Jenson Button has joined the growing chorus of criticism regarding the team orders at the German grand prix, which may yet result in severe sanctions being taken against Ferrari.

The Italian team were yesterday punished with a $100,000 fine for arranging the result at Hockenheim. The matter, however, has been referred to the World Motor Sport Council who, if they choose to pursue the case, have unlimited powers of punishment at their disposal.

The incident saw coded messages being passed to Felipe Massa, which eventually resulted in him slowing to allow his team-mate Fernando Alonso to pass and claim victory. Alonso is far better placed than the Brazilian in the drivers' championship.

"Personally I think team orders in Formula One are wrong, in any motor sport category, although sometimes they are inevitable," Button said. "We all want to win, and I know that every team wants to win, both the constructors' and drivers' championships.

"But they have to give both their drivers the same opportunity to do so. This was very early in the season. How early is it going to start in the future?"

Massa was given the message "Your team-mate is faster" by his race engineer, Rob Smedley. In response to this, Button said:

Echoing his McLaren team-mate's sentiments, the championship leader, Lewis Hamilton, said:

Despite Ferrari's protestations to the contrary, it is clear that for the remainder of this season Alonso is their favoured driver and Massa will have to play second fiddle.

That could count against McLaren, who have consistently adopted a policy of treating both drivers equally, even if it proves to be detrimental to their championship chances.

"All I can say is for us we're still in the best position overall," said Hamilton, who leads Button by 14 points, with Alonso in fifth a further 20 points back. McLaren are 28 clear of Red Bull in the constructors' standings.

Hamilton added: "Although we're not the fastest, both myself and Jenson are going in the same direction, we're both fighting, so there's two horse power rather than one."

It has long been claimed that McLaren's insistence on equality cost Hamilton or Alonso the title in 2007 as both finished a point behind the eventual champion, Kimi Raikkonen, then with Ferrari.

Hamilton disagrees, citing other factors that came into play that season, and instead is proud to drive for a team that in his eyes plays fair.

"There were races when I messed up and lost points. There were a lot of mistakes on either side," the English driver added. "If you're both going full pelt then one of you is going to do a better job and finish ahead."

"But I don't feel if one had been favoured more than the other one of us would have won the championship. And it was definitely not the case of me being favoured over him. That was by far not the case."

"Instead it was a good experience for the team, and we've really come on in leaps and bounds since then. I think our team management, and the way it conducts itself, is probably the most professional I've ever seen in Formula One. I'm delighted and very proud to be a part of that."

Lotus Racing's chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne was also critical of Ferrari, claiming Formula One fans would feel cheated. Gascoyne, one of the most experienced men in the sport having previously worked for a raft of teams, said team orders have, and always will, exist – you just do not make such a ham-fisted attempt at them.

"There are team orders, and we have to accept there will be. It was just handled very badly," said Gascoyne. "Of course, there will come a point in the season when you have to prioritise one driver because he has the best chance of winning a championship. You've got to do what's best for the team."

"In this case they were going to get a one-two anyway. But is this the right stage of the season to be doing what they did? The bottom line is if you are going to do it then do so far more cleverly than they did."

"Obviously it is a team sport and you have to get the best result for the team, in particular when you are at the front and racing for a championship. But it is clear the fans feel cheated by it when you do it like they did, which was just ridiculous."