F1: Ferrari duo only obeying orders . .

FERNANDO ALONSO and Felipe Massa both claimed to be team players after the furore of their contrived one-two finish in yesterday's German Grand Prix.

The two drivers had already departed Hockenheim when the race stewards hit Ferrari with a $100,000 (64,800) fine for implementing team orders, which are outlawed under F1 rules.

The matter has also been referred to the World Motor Sport Council and may yet result in further sanctions being imposed. Massa claimed the decision to allow Alonso by was made of his own volition, and nothing to do with a seemingly coded radio message from his race engineer Rob Smedley.

"Okay, so, Fernando is faster than you," Smedley said on lap 47, which led to Massa opening the door for Alonso to pass two laps later when he slowed out of the hairpin. Smedley then told Massa: "Good lad. Just stick with it now. Sorry."

Massa said: "For sure, you always want to win. That's always what we're working for. We don't have team orders, so you just need to do the race that you can and if you cannot do that you need to think about the team. I think that's the most important thing."

The problem was Massa's tone of voice and body language spoke differently, never more so than when he spurned Alonso's offer of a congratulatory hug after they stepped out of their cars in parc ferme.

As for Alonso, he was asked whether he felt embarrassed to claim such a win, whether it was a "dirty" victory, and if it was "up there" with his triumph in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix that was later overshadowed by the 'crash-gate' scandal.

The double world champion refused to bite on any of the questions, instead at one point responding: "We tried to do our race, as good as we can.

Alonso's 23rd win of his career has moved him to within 34 points of championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who finished fourth behind Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and ahead of team-mate Jenson Button in fifth place.