Luca Montezemolo said he agreed with his race team’s decision to impose team orders in Austria last Sunday.

The Ferrari President believes that the four extra points Michael Schumacher earned for the win could prove decisive if the pressure is on to win this year’s title later in the season.

‘Three times, we have lost the Drivers' title by a whisper and we learnt the hard way that every little point can make the difference,’ he said.

Luca Montezemolo (left) with Ferrari sporting director Jean Todt

‘We certainly don't think this championship is already decided just because we have won five races, because we know the situation can change very quickly. Two years ago, Michael arrived at the French Grand Prix with a 22-point lead over Coulthard and 24 over Hakkinen. Then came three races with no points and the Finn made up the whole difference, passing our driver in the classification in Budapest.

‘Whether or not the four points which came Michael's way because of our decision will play a decisive role, is something we will not know until the end of the championship.

‘I am sorry for Barrichello, who was great for the whole weekend and deserved to win. Sometimes however, one has to act letting the head rule the heart. While, with a few laps to go, I was instinctively happy for Rubens to win, ten seconds after the chequered flag I said to myself, “yes, that was the right decision”.

‘I want to make it clear that this was a decision which I agree with a hundred percent.’

Montezemolo explained that in his former role as Team Boss of Scuderia Ferrari he actively enforced team orders and pointed out that it was not only Ferrari that put such methods in place.

‘When I was Sporting Director in 1975, I imposed team orders on our drivers,’ he said.

‘In Monaco, I told (Clay) Regazzoni to let (Niki) Lauda pass, as he was quicker and could win the race. In subsequent years, on several occasions we asked our drivers to act for the good of the team. I am thinking of Hockenheim and Sepang in 1999, when Irvine picked up two wins which kept him in contention for the World Championship thanks to the collaboration first of Mika Salo and then of Michael Schumacher.

‘On top of that, it does not seem to me that other teams have behaved differently in the past. One only has to recall the 1998 Australian Grand Prix when Coulthard let Hakkinen pass. Not to mention Jerez in 1997, when what happened was an agreement between two teams, Williams and McLaren to let the Finn take his first grand prix win.’