There was tension in the T8 garage in the closing stages of today's race after van Gisbergen pulled up on the back of Feeney with a handful of laps to go.
The Kiwi eventually barged past his teammate to grab fourth spot, a position he felt he had legitimately earned by nursing his rear tyres.
However he was promptly told by the engineering team that if he was unable to run down third-placed Andre Heimgartner he would need to give fourth place back to Feeney.
That sparked a heat exchange over the radio with van Gisbergen attempting to negotiate a way to keep the position.
He eventually relented and let Feeney through on the front straight right before the flag.
According to T8 managing director Jamie Whincup the issue was a misunderstanding on van Gisbergen's end, with team manager Mark Dutton having clearly outlined to the drivers what the expectations were in the final stint.
"Dutto did a great job; the comms were really clear all the way through the last stint," Whincup said. "And that was, 'guys, protect what we've got – we've come from 13th and last, we're fourth and fifth, Broc has an opportunity to win the round, do not fight each other, do not kill each other, let's get maximum points for the whole team'.
"That was the communication and that's the way it finished."
"[Shane] didn't interpret the communication the same as what the engineers, and what was going on in the garage. Once he goes through the communication again he'll be on board with everybody else."
Whincup made no secret of the fact that van Gisbergen was upset with how things played out, but urged his team to focus on the positives from the race.
Amid the tensions it was a remarkable turnaround, with Feeney having started 13th and van Gisbergen way back in 25th.
He was also spun on the opening lap which put him well behind the entire field.
Whincup wants the result to be celebrated now, with the "dirty laundry" left to be sorted once the team is back at base.
"There's no denying it, we had a situation where a driver wasn't happy," he said.
"It's not the first and not the last time. But what's critical for me is that it doesn't put a dampener on the performance today.
"We should have been in big trouble but we came out with a fourth and a fifth. Let's make sure we're all high-fiving and understand how good a job we did, and we'll sort out the dirty laundry when we get home."
At the same time, Whincup sympathised with van Gisbergen over what he feels was a genuine miscommunication.
"Yeah I get it. It all makes sense," he said. "But the comms that were going on during that last stint were pretty clear as well. Everyone did their best and we finished fourth and fifth, which is a lot better than 13th and 25th."
Feeney, meanwhile, said he was unaware of the drama as it was playing out.
"I didn't really know what was going on," said Feeney. "I left that to the team.
"I saw him slowing down [on the last lap]. I asked what was going on and they said he was letting me past.
"I'm sure we'll sort that out in debrief. I think we work great together as a team. In that second last stint he was making moves and setting them up for me.
"I have no idea what goes one behind the scenes. I was just driving my car. I didn't know if I expected that at the end, I've never played these team games before. [Shane and I] are completely fine, we're all good. It will be more a thing the team discusses."
