The truth about team orders
Tom O'Keefe looks into the FIA's legislation regarding team orders, and how it will affect the three teams still gunning for glory at Interlagos this weekend
Did you watch NASCAR's Talladega 500 last Sunday? Dull as dishwater as a race, but what stood out is NASCAR's straightforward way of dealing with team orders: they're an accepted way of life.
In a restrictor plate race run on the high banking of Talladega, where top speed is controlled by carburetor plates, it is like Monza in the 1960s and '70s where slipstreaming the car ahead is the way forward. In NASCAR, they draft their team-mates to improve each others' positions throughout the race. More surprising - but logical - even drivers from different teams co-operate with each other to advance the interests of common engine manufacturers Toyota, Ford and Chevrolet.
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