Were the above words a team order, illegal under F1 rules, or mere observations which left Felipe Massa free to decide whether he should allow team-mate Fernando Alonso to pass and thereby win last weekend’s German Grand Prix?

Is there any serious dispute that can be had over this? The use of the word “sorry” necessarily presupposes that the order to allow the pass will be effective and cannot be explained any other way to anyone.

The reasons cited to support the view that it does not matter are firstly that it is a silly rule and secondly, it is broken on many occasions.

Such observations were not ones which anyone thought sufficient to exculpate Dean Richards during ‘Bloodgate’, even though both could have been claimed with equal force. It is only when applied to a different set of known sporting facts that the flaws in such reasoning are fully exposed.

The extra insult comes because of the gibberish now being spouted by Ferrari and others to suggest that black is in fact white. To many avid F1 fans the controversy over this incident and subsequent $100,000 (£64,500) instant fine for the Ferrari team is frivolous bagatelle, something whipped up by a rabid media.

The fuss is actually about illegality. Whether those in the know, looking from what they see as a position of knowledge, believe the rule to be nonsense is not the point; it was introduced after Ferrari’s manipulation of the Austrian GP in 2002 had brought opprobrium on F1 and remains valid until repealed.

Participants cannot select which rules they wish to adhere to or else anarchy ensues. What is to stop teams taking Ferrari’s lead and breaking the ban on in-season testing, something that no lesser figure than Michael Schumacher has called similarly ridiculous?

Regarding the decision and incident itself: the utter drivel being proffered by way of explanation is revealed by looking at the event logically.

If Alonso was faster, and there was very little evidence that this was significant, he could have overtaken Massa anyway. Further, since the furore there have been contradictory accounts of why Massa made the decision, including the risible claim that the passing manoeuvre happened because “Massa made a small mistake when shifting up three gears at once”. If this was a freely made decision there would only have been one reason given, not several.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has tried to deflect flak by attacking his detractors, saying: “Enough of the hypocrisy. This has always happened. If one races for Ferrari, then the interests of the team come before those of the individual.”

Perhaps he has forgotten the fit of moral outrage shown by his leading driver only a few weeks ago when Alonso attacked the Valencia stewards for what he called manipulating the result.

Without a shred of consideration for how Massa might feel, Alonso is now lauding his win, saying it was a “great feeling” and that “all wins are special” – well only if you are not a real sportsman. If you know you haven’t earned it you shut up and move on.

I was not aware that Massa had been told to let me pass, I thought he had a problem. My "this is ridiculous" comment was aimed at the back-markers.