Has his victory restored honour to Formula One?

Barrichello celebrates his first victory in nearly two years in Germany, after holding off Schumacher and McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, who took third.

Ferrari resisted the temptation to ask Barrichello to let Schumacher past even though the Championship leader was the faster of the two men, instead ordering the cars not to race each other.

The decision is a U-turn on previous Ferrari policy, but the Italian giants almost certainly have in mind Wednesday's hearing into the controversy over team orders at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Ferrari boss Ross Braun was subject to harsh criticism for ordering Barrichello to let Schumacher win in Austria, many saying the sport is being ruined by team strategies which alter the results of races.

Is it too little, too late to rescue the reputation of Formula One?

Ruben's win has restored integrity to the sport. One must understand that this is ultimately a team sport, and therefore drivers cannot be judged individually for their performance; however there is a fine line between team strategy and blatant cheating.
Alain Schram, South Africa

Ferrari are damned if they do and damned if they don't. Obviously it's a lot easier for people to complain than it is to figure out how Ferrari can be in such a position - where they can decide which one of their team will cross the line first.

People should be aspiring to Ferrari's performance instead of trying to pull them down. A team works together, in football you can score two ways, the first is to score yourself. The second, is to set it up for a team-mate to score. It's the way it is and the way it should be.
L Nicko, Australia

For comparison, move a few kilometres down the road to Bologna, and that other red Italian motorsport icon - Ducati. They have three factory riders in World Superbike this year - where the lead can change multiple times on a single lap and the only evidence of team orders appears to be a gentleman's agreement to not actually punt each other off the track. Swapping paint on corners is perfectly normal behaviour between team-mates.
Richard Harris, UK

Mike (England)- Having followed F1 for more years than I care to remember, I've never witnessed or heard of a driver intentionally throwing his car off the track for the sake of spectacle. Michael may very well be a supreme driver but suggesting he engineered loss of control of his car is both overstating Michael's talent and the teams desire to gain maximum points. Typical British behaviour - if a compatriot isn't winning, there must be a conspiracy. Throw enough mud and hope some sticks.
J Farooq, England

Ferarri are in a awful position and people should give them a break. They are head and shoulders above the rest and can't help it that everyone else isn't adequate. Their job is to make sure both their drivers finish one and two. Take your hats off to them for doing what they should and criticize the other teams for doing an average job.
Steve, New Zealand

Ferrari wisely chose not to have its team-mates get into a tussle when the third-place car was nearly a lap behind. Such is a completely defensible use of 'team orders' in contrast to the blatantly scripted finish at Austria.

Reasonable criticism of the earlier incident is one thing, but to carry it forward and apply it in this latest instance is contrived and ridiculous.
David Green, US

Ferrari did what any of the other teams would have done. The only difference is that no other team is dominant enough to decide who will be first and who will be second.
Scott, US

It is a team sport; the Ferrari team beat the other teams, what more is there to say? If you don't like team orders then watch another series that only races one car per team. I personally like the team part of F1, and the tactics it provides.
JC, UK

In Austria Ferrari didn't break the rules. I didn't agree with what they did, but they did it and took the wrath of the media. Onto the European GP; they decided to stay in the positions they should have finished in in Austria so as not to upset anybody. And still the media slate them.

If anybody else can get within 20 seconds by the end of the race perhaps they might race to the end. If the nearest person is 50 seconds behind then Ferrari can cruise to victory. Are you telling me that if any other team was in the enviable position of being able to control a race from the fifth lap they would do anything different? I think not.
Alan Hiatt, England

I am absolutely appalled by Jonathon Legard's remarks about Ferrari's historic 1-2 race win at the European GP. Sadly his claim that Ferrari cheat F1 by "letting" Barrichello have his second F1 win is another example of biased anti-Italian, anti Ferrari reporting all too prevalent in the UK press recently.
Enzo Di Sciullo, UK/Italy

Jonathan Legard's article is absolutely awful. Basically, whatever Ferrari did, he already knew what he was going to write. F1 is a team sport and the manager of that team has the right to do whatever he wants to do. You don't see a football team winning 5-0 at half-time decide to take a few shots at their own goal during the second-half, so why should an F1 team take stupid risks just because no other team can compete with them? I personally thought that they should have done it again just to show people like Mr Legard that they don't care less what he thinks.
Paul Bonham, England

The problem is the unbelievable car advantage that Ferrari have over the other teams. It allows them to 'choose' who wins the race. Other teams have got to step up and create better cars to compete. That way it will always be a fight for victory.
John Higgins, England

It will take more than this to signal the return of integrity to what has become a greedy and corrupt sport
Chris, UK

While Ed from England may think that no one understands the sport as well as he does, he obviously needs a little more enlightenment. Some of the most entertaining racing came between Barrichello and Schumacher for three-quarters of the race. It's a shame he couldn't spot it, for it was most enjoyable. And as a viewer, I would rather watch people racing until the end, risking their car at every opportunity to get in front and not watch them suddenly decide to stop racing and wait for the finish. It's up to the teams to worry about the cars not finishing - not the viewers. I just want to see racing - pure and simple.
Gregor, London, UK

In my opinion this is completely reasonable. If both drivers had taken each other out on the last lap while fighting for the lead Ferrari would have nothing to show from such a dominant race and probably would have been criticised for throwing away 16 constructor points. Ferrari did the right thing this time!).
Gavin Burns, UK

This has been yet another example of how not to do it. Although Rubens did lead the race from the start, and drove brilliantly, it was very clear that Michael was driving the far superior car and could easily have passed in the second-half of the race.

At this early stage of the season, team orders are not necessary and Ferrari's drivers should be racing to win for themselves, not racing to let Michael win at any cost! Rubens has been the better driver at a number of the GP's, out-qualifying his team-mate on several occasions, resulting in Ruben's car being taken by Michael to use on race day. Come on Ferrari, give Rubens a chance!!
Linda, England

Road course racing is inherently more interesting and fun than the oval track numbness of IRL, Cart and Nascar. That is until Ferrari and the teams fix finishes. Now Ferrari and F1 imitate WWF "wrestling"! When do the drivers and team owners start to bash each other with chairs? Spare me!
Glenn Meyer, USA

The FIA has no-one to blame but themselves. They've set F1 up with a driver's championship, and a constructor's championship, thereby insuring that team orders will be a part of the show. Austria was about the driver's championship; Europe was about the constructor's championship. Anyone who thinks otherwise doesn't know what they're watching.
Mark, USA

It seems that Ferrari can't win! First they get slated for the Austria race by letting Schumacher win. In my opinion, they did no wrong. If anyone thinks that is the first time team orders have been used, they must be naive. Schumi is the number one driver, as it no doubt states in Rubens' contract. Rubens deservedly won on merit by being the quickest and not making a single mistake, and Ferrari are accused of fixing it!
Phil Jennings, UK

I felt that the European Grand Prix was a perfectly acceptable demonstration of team orders in operation. This was exactly the sort of thing that has taken place in racing almost since its inception. The main thing Ferrari should be blamed for at Austria is incredibly bad taste. In that case if they knew that Schumacher must win then they should have slipped him through earlier in the race: of course everyone would know what had happened, but that's exactly what has been done many times before, and I can't remember it ever having caused any sort of outcry.

Think about Andretti and Peterson, Scheckter and Villeneuve, Irvine and Salo, Irvne and Schumacher, Hill and Coulthard, and many more. I also believe that Ferrari received a very strong message after Austria and were duly shocked and humbled and have learned. It would, in my opinion, be completely inappropriate for their actions to result in race bans, which would simply be the FIA treating true fans to further contempt.
Nigel, UK

Honour had never left F1. It's a team sport, not an individual sport. So instead of blaming Ferrari for not playing fair, others should first try to improve themselves.
Nikhil, India

Team orders or not, it was obvious that Michael Schumacher had the faster car, and probably could have passed Rubens. What Sunday's result shows is that the other teams down the pit lane have a lot of catching up to do, and until they have you will always get situations where team orders come into play.
Graham Stokes, England

Cars are there to race. Forcing a team member to stay behind the other in the name of strategy is a tragedy!
Mani, India

I don't like what happened in Austria but I do understand why Ferrari did it. If Michael had passed Rubens for the win it would have been called fixing. Instead they did the right thing, held station, and are now criticised for not racing!

If they had raced and either taken each other off, or blown their engines, they would have looked very stupid, and all the other teams would have criticised them for racing each other.
Iain, England

Any allegations made with respect to yesterday's race are uncalled for. Barrichello had a brilliant start and deserved to win. You cannot blame a team for issuing a no-race order in the final stages because you want to make sure that both cars finish safely.

Team tactics have, and always will be a part of Formula One. The only reason that Ferrari are being hassled over it is because the championship is so utterly boring; apart from those 'incidents' there is nothing to write about the sport.

Maybe the press should focus on the inability of the other teams to close the gap with Ferrari instead of blaming a team that has taken the sport to a different level.
Rob Zijlstra, the Netherlands

All this whining proves that many people don't understand the sport they are watching. McLaren, Williams and any successful team for that matter have employed tactics whereby they stop their drivers from racing each other past a certain point in the race - it is common sense.

It's far better for your drivers to hold station and finish first and second then to battle it out until the very death and risk neither car finishing.

This has always been a team sport; what the enlightened and sophisticated amongst us understand is that real racing comes between drivers of different teams, so it's up to the rest of the teams out there to catch up!
Ed, England

Michael has paid Rubens back in a much more polite way in his home race, and the British media should stop their unfair criticism of how Ferrari run their team. We are witnessing the greatest team and the greatest driver making history. Don't miss it.
Viet Do, Australia

Team orders exist, and the FIA allows it. So people shouldn't moan about it because they don't like Ferrari winning. The other challengers need to move to Bridgestone tyres!
Jimedstein, Taiwan

The sport is too big and the amounts of money involved are too large for teams to sit aside and let their drivers fight it out at the risk of taking each other out. Team orders are an integral part of the sport and have been since the 50's.

Even Fangio needed team orders; no body thought less of him when Peter Collins handed him the Ferrari at the 1956 Italian grand prix. Ferrari are being criticised for not racing - the unfortunate reality is that Formula One is no longer just about racing.
Arun, India

Integrity? Don't believe that. The only reason Rubens was allowed to win was because of the pending FIA 'tribunal' and the poor publicity since Austria. Team orders should only be used at the end of a season when the race for the championship is ever so close.
Tim, England

It is sad that the rest of paddock are leaving it up to Ferrari to race or not to race. It would be stupid to see Michael and Rubens push hard and blow up their engines or take each other out in the name of racing. The onus is on the other teams to make a race of it. If they can't, don't blame Ferrari for reverse team orders.
O Latuke, Canada

Integrity? I think not, Ferrari merely served up another variation on the theme. If anything this result was even more contrived than Austria was, Michael clearly had the better package than Rubens and the pair merely went through the motions for the second half of the race.

Sure Ferrari have by some margin the best car, and the best driver but in their quest for success they have lost sight of the passion that used to typify the marque.

I well remember Jean Alesi stuffing the last V12 Ferrari into the barrier right in front of me at Monaco in 1995, and thinking at least today I had watched a race. Of course the winners that day were Michael and a certain Ross Brawn, if only we had realised the future course of F1.

Ferrari broke no rules in Austria. It was sheer bad timing. And thanks to the public outrage, we were robbed today of yet another interesting battle between the two scarlets. Michael was the faster man hands down and guys who say that Barrichello is the only man who can beat him obviously don't know what they are talking about.
Allen, USA

Although F1 has two championships, the drivers and team, they should be more concerned primarily about the team championship and not the drivers championship until later on in the season.

To let Schumacher win in Austria was a farce as it was only 6th race of the season, surely it was in the teams interest to just get the two cars home. Also it rubbishes the contract of Schumacher as the Number 1 driver, as Rubens was the best driver on that day and should have taken the glory.

Sunday's episode of the saga, seems to me to be a Ferrari ploy to reinstate them in the FIA's good books in order to stem the punishment of Wednesday's hearing. Viva Montoya!
James, England

How can anyone say that this wasn't also a victory designed by team orders? Schumacher clearly had the faster car and he obviously held back from challenging Barrichello. ,

This was clearly just a PR matter since Schumacher has enough of a comfortable lead in the championship to allow him to concede a victory to Rubens.
Alizay Hamid, Pakistan

It would be easy to be cynical and say that integrity has been lost in F1, but the fact of the matter is the amount of money involved and the fact that we are dealing with two different competitions, the drivers championships and the constructors.

Clearly the drivers are the employees of the constructors and therefore have to follow their employers' directives and goals, the drivers championship is just a side issue and it is this conflict that calls integrity into question.

I believe the FIA now have a duty to issue directives to team owners not to interfere in driver placements with the intent of manipulating a race result, it is nothing more than cheating and needs a publicly stated ruling to safeguard future integrity. And it needs that ruling now before integrity really does give way to cynicism.
Paul Nicholls, USA

All I can say to Ferrari is: 'one swallow doesn't make a summer.' I get the feeling that Barrichello's victory is only a one-off gesture by the team to regain some popularity.
James Mills, UK

Formula One is still stifled by team orders. Not so long ago there were calls for all cars to be made uniform, pitting drivers against each other. The closest we get to this situation is to see how team-mates fair against each other - in qualifying! The race becomes little more than a parade, slightly warmed by the occasional reliability problem.
Ian Hart, UK

In the 1950s it was common for a team leader to take over a team-mates car should his own develop trouble. Without these tactics it is likely Fangio would not have won the 1956 title.
Steve, UK

What's the difference between telling Rubens to move aside and telling Schumacher not to bother overtaking? None! I'm glad of the result even though I am a Schumacher fan. It evens things out since Michael would have won here just as Rubens would have in Austria. Why not just change the rules so that in any one-two finish, the team can choose who gets the points and allow the rightful person to get the win?
Mariusz, Australia

I was pleased that justice was seen to be done in the European GP, but Ferrari had to repair the PR disaster that was the Austrian GP. Not to mention the FIA hearing on Wednesday! As an F1 fan I want to see drivers race each other. Fangio did't need team orders!
John Ager, UK

People worldwide want to see anyone but Schumacher winning races. That's the cause of all the rubbish relating the Austrian GP. F1 was, is and always will be a team sport - and team orders are a part of it.

The other teams should stop crying about the Austrian GP. They should improve their cars and challenge Schumacher on the race track. The other teams are mediocre and unable to come to him. This is the problem with F1, not what happened in Austria.
TP, Germany