Paris ? Ferrari escaped severe punishment Wednesday for manipulating the finish of last month’s Austrian Grand Prix.

The governing body of Formula One racing, the FIA, imposed a joint $1 million fine on the automaker and drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello improper conduct on the victory stand.

Schumacher

But it refused to deduct points for Ferrari’s order that Barrichello let Schumacher pass him to win the race and strengthen his hold on the season standings.

“What happened in Austria was bad from a sporting point of view,” FIA president Max Mosley said. “But you can’t blame Ferrari for doing what they did, or the drivers.”

Team orders are not against FIA rules, and the body’s World Motor Sport Council in Paris couldn’t take points away from Schumacher, Barrichello or Ferrari. Mosley said that if the council had punished Ferrari’s use of team orders, Ferrari could have taken the matter before the FIA’s international court of appeal.

Instead, the council imposed the fine for improper conduct. Barrichello, who is Brazilian, stood on the top step of the podium while the German national anthem was played for the winner, Schumacher. Schumacher then joined him on the top step while the Italian anthem was played for Ferrari. Only the winner is supposed to take the top step.

Schumacher then took the winner’s trophy from Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel without acknowledging him and handed it to Barrichello. The FIA prohibits drivers from doing anything that might embarrass national authorities of host countries.