Max Mosley says he’s happy that Ferrari failed to secure the drivers’ championship with Fernando Alonso, insisting such a win would have ignited yet another debate over team orders.
The former-FIA president hailed the Scuderia’s comeback after they looked out of the championship during the mid-season. However, a succession of wins for Alonso bought him into play for the title showdown in Abu Dhabi.
“Ferrari did an excellent job from the mid-season onwards,” he told Welt. “They were almost out of the race but managed to bring themselves into play.”
Nonetheless, Mosley expressed some pleasure that the Italian outfit failed to secure either championships after Alonso was gifted a victory in Hockenheim thanks to team-orders.
“In the end I’m happy that Ferrari didn’t win,” he said. “It would have given the world an unpleasant debate about how Ferrari came to it.
“The topic of team orders would have come up again. Whether that would have been good for Formula One, I doubt it.
“It was a strategic mistake in the final race that took the issue off the table and the question of whether Ferrari would have earned the title in 2010 is, thank God, unasked.”
In regards to the eventual champion, Sebastian Vettel, Mosley branded the young German as a likeable character and a deserved winner.
“He [Vettel] deserved to win and is in every respect an excellent World Champion,” added the 70-year-old. “He is a very likeable person and has a relaxed, natural appearance.”
