London, Aug 21(ANI): Ferrari team has hit back at Austrian racing legend Niki Lauda’s criticism of their ‘race-fixing tactics’ at last month’s German Grand Prix.

Ferrari is due to appear before the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) in September after race stewards deemed that it had misused team orders at Hockenheim to allow Fernando Alonso take victory ahead of Felipe Massa.

Lauda, a three-time world champion, had claimed that his former team would be given “a pasting” by the governing body for mocking the sport.

Ferrari has now accused the Austrian of hypocrisy insisting that he had no problems with its driver policy when he was competing.

“After events in Hockenheim, a wave of hypocrisy swept through the paddock, with so many pundits, young and old, keen to have their say,” The Daily Express quoted a column on Ferrari’s official website, as saying.

“The latest missive comes from Austria, from a person, who having hung up his helmet, has never missed out on a chance to dispense opinions left and right, even if, on more than one occasion, he has had to indulge in some verbal acrobatics to reposition himself in line with the prevailing wind.”

“This time, good old Niki has missed out on a fine opportunity to keep his mouth shut, given that, when he was a Scuderia driver, the supposed Ferrari driver management policy suited him perfectly,” he added.

Ferrari was fined 100,000 dollars for their action, but there is a possibility that the team could face ‘points deduction’ or even ‘exclusion from the championship’ after the review. (ANI)