Ecclestone praises Ferrari's Austria behaviour
Bernie Ecclestone has praised Ferrari's "sportsmanship" after Kimi Raikkonen was not instructed to let Sebastian Vettel finish ahead of him at the Austrian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton's DNF in Spielberg opened the door for Vettel to move to the top of the championship, although his lead is just one point after finishing behind his team-mate at the Red Bull Ring.
Mercedes' strategy blunder opened the door for Vettel to leapfrog Hamilton and for Ferrari to replace the Silver Arrows atop the team standings ahead of the British Grand Prix.
Hamilton has won at Silverstone in each of the past four years, so will be expected to reclaim top spot, and the tight nature of the championship means the three points Vettel missed out on by finishing third in Austria could be crucial.
Although Ferrari's history is littered with incidents of team orders, they opted to let Raikkonen keep his second place in Austria, a move that impressed Ecclestone.
"Everyone can take an example from Ferrari's sportsmanship," Ecclestone told Sport Bild.
"It would have been easy to wave Vettel past shortly before the end, but Ferrari didn't.
"So they kept up not only sporting fairness, but also Kimi's morale.
"Ferrari has finally made the step I was waiting for so long.
"Sebastian really deserves the title. Hopefully it doesn't hurt him that Ferrari gave up those three points."
Recommended by the editors
Christian Horner
How Adrian Newey and Christian Horner can still work together in F1
Japanese Grand Prix
Max Verstappen ban on British journalist angers media as 'walk out' suggestion raised
Japanese Grand Prix
F1 2026 Japanese Grand Prix weather forecast - latest from Suzuka
Japanese Grand Prix
F1 journalist kicked out by Max Verstappen breaks silence over Japanese Grand Prix storm
Races
-
Grand Prix of Australia 2026
-
Grand Prix of China 2026
-
Grand Prix of Japan 2026
-
Grand Prix of Bahrain 2026
-
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2026
-
Miami Grand Prix 2026
-
Grand Prix du Canada 2026
-
Grand Prix De Monaco 2026
-
Gran Premio de Barcelona-Catalunya 2026
-
Grand Prix of Austria 2026
-
Grand Prix of Great Britain 2026
-
Grand Prix of Belgium 2026
-
Grand Prix of Hungary 2026
-
Dutch Grand Prix 2026
-
Grand Prix of Italy 2026
-
Gran Premio de España 2026
-
Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2026
-
Grand Prix of Singapore 2026
-
Grand Prix of the United States 2026
-
Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2026
-
Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2026
-
Las Vegas Grand Prix 2026
-
Qatar Grand Prix 2026
-
Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2026
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Editorial & corporate information
Avenue HQ
10–12 East Parade
Leeds
LS1 2BH
United Kingdom Regional correspondence
View contact page