Mercedes drivers told to obey team orders in future

[jens]

One of the most curious/strangest team orders I can remember, was Jerez 1997. Basically like with Barrichello in 2002, Coulthard was threatened over the radio that he had to let Häkkinen past or his "contract would be reviewed", which meant the possibility of a sack. It was a call that didn't make sense to many - they weren't driving for the championship and Häkkinen wasn't on a different strategy.

The only reason for the call was that Ron Dennis wanted to "boost Häkkinen's confidence" so that the Finn would finally have a Grand Prix win. Usually team orders are used for practical reasons - either to make a strategy work (BMW Sauber Canada 2008) or for the championship fight (many cases). But in this case it was just to make a driver feel good and better. Obviously Coulthard didn't want to risk his position within McLaren as the car was coming good and he obeyed.

Why did Ron Dennis feel it to be so important for Häkkinen to win a random race and risk losing in-team harmony and good working co-operation with DC? Especially before the great years that were to follow? After all, at that time (by 1997) Häkkinen hadn't proven to be better than Coulthard yet, and they were pretty close. So there was no clear case for preference. Häkkinen had lost 3 race wins due to car failures during 1997 though and maybe Dennis sentimentally felt he owed a win for the Finn, who had already lost so many due to misfortune.