SPIELBERG, Austria -- Williams boss Patrick Head has accused Formula One rivals Ferrari of cynically manipulating the Austrian Grand Prix to ensure Michael Schumacher won at the circuit for the first time.

"I have to say that was the most cynical event that I've experienced in 27 years in Formula One," said the technical director and part owner of a team that employs Michael's younger brother Ralf as a driver.

	“	A team like Ferrari, when you have produced a car as brilliant as they have done, have an obligation to Formula One and to the spectators and that is to provide a motor race”
		—Patrick Head

"A team like Ferrari, when you have produced a car as brilliant as they have done, have an obligation to Formula One and to the spectators and that is to provide a motor race," he said after Sunday's race.

"When we produced a car that was ahead of the others, we provided some motor racing. What we saw here was a disgusting, cynical act."

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello led from pole position at the A1 Ring but, acting on team orders, moved aside within meters of the finish on the final 71st lap to allow four times champion Schumacher to win.

The incident echoed last year's Austrian race when Barrichello was also ordered to move over for Schumacher while in second place, a decision that caused a furore with the season still in its infancy.

The German went on to win the title by a record number of points and with four races to spare.

Ferrari's sporting director, Jean Todt, defended the latest decision, saying that the right result had been secured.

"We think rightly or wrongly that Michael has more chance in the drivers championship so if we have to decide in favor of one we decide in favor of Michael," he said.

Past controversies
McLaren's Ron Dennis, whose team was embroiled in a major team orders controversy in 1998 when David Coulthard moved over to allow Mika Hakkinen to win in Australia, kept out of the argument.

"It is clear that Ferrari have a very dominant position at the moment and they have worked hard for that," he told reporters.

"How they choose to control their team and determine how a result should be is their business but that is not the way we run our team," he said.

Austrian Gerhard Berger, a former Ferrari driver who is now motorsport director for Williams's engine partners BMW, said the Italian team had erred.

"It is a terrible decision," he said. "I understand if you are fighting for the championship...but in an early stage of the season such a decision is not very good for the sport.

"I have a lot of sympathy for Rubens today."

Canadian driver Jaques Villeneuve, who had plenty of run-ins with Schumacher when he beat the German to the title in 1997, criticized his rival.

"Michael is saying that he didn't agree with the decision. Then why did he overtake Rubens?" he said. "Ferrari didn't need it because they are going to win the championship anyway."

But Williams' Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya appeared more amused by the whole controversy.

"That's the way they work," he said. "It's disappointing for Rubens...I really felt he deserved this. Michael doesn't really have any challenge in the championship. I am running second and we have done six races and he is already more than 20 points ahead of me.

"And they are maybe a second a lap clear on us, so what they are nervous about I don't know."

Sunday's race was Schumacher's fifth victory in six races this season and, ironically, followed several weeks of grumbling that Ferrari's dominance was making the championship boring.