Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has said that the FIA should keep the current ban on team orders in place, allowing drivers in the same team to continue to race each other without any intervention from the pit wall.
The team order ban, introduced after the fallout from Ferrari's controversial 1-2 at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, has come up for debate recently following Ferrari's apparent use of orders at the German Grand Prix.
Although the rule has been flaunted by teams in the past, Ferrari were fined and may face further sanctions from the World Motor Sports Council over their move, and the whole issue has re-opened the discussion on the place of team orders in the sport.
But Horner believes that the ban should stay, saying that: "I think the rule was brought in for a reason - to avoid the situation that happened in [the] 2002 [Austrian GP].
"F1 is a team sport, but the rules are as they are. The issue in Hockenheim was very much an issue between the FIA and Ferrari."
He added: "I think moving forward, it is perhaps an area that needs to be looked at. But I think for me, F1 it has been quite healthy in the last couple of years where drivers have raced each other and I think that that should be encouraged rather than negated."
He added that the Red Bull team remained committed to allowing their drivers to race, despite the collision between Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber at the Turkish Grand Prix, which cost them a 1-2 finish.
"Rightly or wrongly, we've allowed our guys to race and that is something they have done throughout this year," Horner bragged.
"In Turkey we paid the ultimate price for that, where one retired and the other achieved a lesser result than he should have done. If the rules were different then perhaps we would have addressed that race differently, but the philosophy of Red Bull Racing is to allow both drivers to race, as Mr. [Dietrich] Mateschitz has openly said."
Horner's comments, though, are not echoed across the whole F1 paddock. Unsurprisingly, the German Bild newspaper has quoted Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali as saying he would vote for the return of team orders.
"F1 is a team sport," Domenicali was quoted as saying as part of a survey of team bosses by the newspaper.
The Italian's opinion has been backed up by Mercedes boss Ross Brawn in recent days, who described the ban as 'unrealistic', and Peter Sauber added that he would also like to see team orders return.
"Team orders should be allowed, because in Formula One, ultimately the interests of the team are at the fore," Sauber explained.
HRT boss Colin Kolles was against the orders returning though, saying: "Team orders must stay banned. Otherwise the sport aspect is damaged."
The McLaren team were among a number of teams to decline to respond to Bild's questions. Team principal Martin Whitmarsh said after the German race that he would look to discuss the matter with Ferrari in private.
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