Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso's hopes of winning a third Formula One title could be wiped out in a disciplinary hearing into how the team broke rules at the German Grand Prix.
Ferrari already has been fined US$100,000 after Brazilian driver Felipe Massa appeared to let teammate Alonso pass him to win the race on July 25.
Massa led for 49 of 67 laps on the German circuit before allowing Alonso to overtake him following Ferrari radio messages, but both drivers escaped sanctions.
With six races left in the season, Alonso is 41 points behind McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton — who leads the drivers' standings with 182 points — and retains an outside chance of winning the title.
The Spaniard would lose 25 points if he is stripped of the win in Hockenheim by the World Motor Sport Council on Wednesday, a decision that would most likely put him out of contention before the Italian Grand Prix in Monza on Sunday.
In Germany, race stewards didn't overturn Ferrari's 1-2 finish but ruled that the Italian team breached article 39.1 of the 2010 Sporting Regulations, which bans team orders that interfere with a race result, and article 151 (c) of the International Sporting Code by bringing the sport into disrepute.
Article 39.1 was introduced following the 2002 season after Ferrari ordered Rubens Barrichello to hand a victory to Michael Schumacher in the Austrian Grand Prix, when FIA president Jean Todt was officiating as Ferrari's team principal.
Current Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has denied any wrongdoing in the case, although Massa reportedly received a message from a race engineer saying Alonso was faster than him. The radio message was seen as a clear order to let his teammate pass him.
Domenicali explained after the race that the team had only wanted to keep Massa aware of the latest race developments and that Ferrari didn't give him explicit instructions.
And because we have already seen in the past that certain situations could not give the best result for the team, that was the information that we wanted to give and we leave the drivers to understand and take notice of it in order to make sure that the team in terms of the result is the bestDomenicali said. "We're sure the World Council will understand our position on that."
Domenicali and the team's lawyers are expected to pursue the same line of defence in front of FIA's World Motor Sport Council, which has the power to expel Ferrari from the championship, although that is unlikely.
FIA said Tuesday it is unclear whether Massa and Alonso will attend the meeting at FIA's headquarters in Paris and didn't confirm reports saying the pair of drivers would testify via video-conferencing.
Last month, former FIA president Max Mosley — a close friend of Todt — said Ferrari should lose points for breaching the rules and was adamant the ban on team orders should remain.
"Most teams are in favour of the ban being lifted," Mosley said.
But if one wants to fulfil the needs of the audience, then one must maintain the ban. In the event that it is brought into play by a team, we have to impose a severe punishment.Ferrari's concerns won't end with Wednesday's hearing after FIA opened another investigation into Massa's start at last month's Belgian Grand Prix. FIA is trying to find out how Massa started the race ahead of his designated spot on the grid without it being noticed, therefore escaping a drive-through penalty.
