Italian Formula One team Ferrari find themselves in the middle of a raging controversy two days ahead of the 2nd Grand Prix of India here on Sunday, having come out with a statement that suggested support for two Italian Navy marines who are in a Kerala jail for shooting dead two Indian fishermen.
On Wednesday, the team posted a message on their F1 page that said, “Scuderia Ferrari will carry the flag of the Italian Navy on the cars driven by Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa in this weekend’s Indian Grand Prix.
“In doing so, Ferrari pays tribute to one of the outstanding entities of our country, also in the hope that the Indian and Italian authorities will soon find a solution to the situation currently involving two sailors from the Italian Navy.” Not amused by this apparent show of support for Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, the marines on board the Italian ship Enrica Lexie, who allegedly shot dead Valentine Jalastine and Ajesh Bi off the Kerala coast on February 15, the government reacted, on Friday, saying it was “not in keeping with the spirit of sports”.
An official spokesperson in the ministry of external affairs Syed Akbaruddin said, “using sporting events to promote causes not of a sporting nature is not in keeping with the spirit of sports.”
Team principal Stefano Domenicali spent the post-practice official press conference here at the Buddh International Circuit fending off suggestions that Ferrari had tried to use the F1 race here as a platform to make a statement.
Formula One supreme Bernie Ecclestone preferred to refer the matter to the Indian motorsport fraternity, even though F1 rules prohibit political, religious or racial gestures.
Ecclestone said the sport was apolitical and that the organisers did not have anything to do with it. “We’ll ask the national sports organisations to have a look at that,” he told reporters here on the day.
Agency reports, however, suggested that Ferari’s step had been widely appreciated at home in Italy. Foreign minister Guilio Terzi tweeted: “Congratulations to Ferrari for displaying the Navy’s symbol at the India GP. It will show the sailors the whole country is behind them.”
The two Marines were detained on February 19 and sent to the Central Prison in Thiruvananthpuram.
They were granted bail in June but on the condition that they must remain in India.