Ferrari face team orders hearing

Alonso passes Massa for German GP lead

Ferrari will face a World Motor Sport Council disciplinary hearing four days before next month's Italian Grand Prix.

The team were fined $100,000 following the German Grand Prix having appeared to give Felipe Massa a coded order to allow Fernando Alonso through to win.

The sport's governing body, the FIA, says the hearing will take place in Paris on Wednesday 8 September.

The team face the added possibility of a points deduction or exclusion from the championship.

Ferrari have been charged with breaking two sections of the F1 rules after Massa's move on lap 49 of the 67-lap race at Hockenheim.

One is article 39.1 of the sporting regulations, which states that "team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited".

The other is article 151.c of the sporting code, which says "any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition, or to the interests of motorsport generally" can be punished.

The fine that they were given in Germany is the maximum the stewards were allowed to impose and the matter was subsequently referred to the sport's governing body.

Massa said it had been his decision to let Alonso through

Massa, who trailed his team-mate by 31 points prior to the race, was told by his Ferrari race engineer, Rob Smedley, over team radio: "Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understand?" - to which he responded by letting Alonso through on Turn Six moments later.

Following the move, Smedley added: "Good lad. Just stick with it now, sorry."

Team orders are banned in Formula 1 and the move has provoked widespread anger within the sport.

606: DEBATE Do you think Ferrari will face further punishment?

Both drivers and team boss Stefano Domenicali had all declared their innocence prior to the stewards' verdict.

But following a judgment that stunned the team, Domenicali then expressed confidence "that the World Council will know how to evaluate the overall facts correctly."

Back in 2002 at the Austrian Grand Prix, then Ferrari boss Jean Todt ordered Rubens Barrichello to pull to one side and allow Michael Schumacher to take the chequered flag.

However, Todt, who is now the FIA president, will not be in the chair for the meeting with the deputy president Nick Craw taking the position.

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