Ferrari face fate at FIA hearing on team orders charge

Ferrari were fined $100,000 (£65,100) for appearing to give Felipe Massa a coded message to allow Fernando Alonso through to win the German Grand Prix.

The case was subsequently referred to the World Motor Sport Council.

But Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali is confident the council will not impose with further sanctions.

"We're sure the World Council will understand our position," he said.

Ferrari have been charged with breaking two sections of F1's rulebook after Massa moved over to let Alonso pass him on lap 49 of the 67-lap race at Hockenheim on 25 July.

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

The other is article 151.c, 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.

Massa was told by his Ferrari race engineer, Rob Smedley, over the team radio: "Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understand?"

The Brazilian responded by letting Alonso through after Turn Six moments later.

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

The incident provoked a widespread backlash against Ferrari, with some teams saying the incident damaged the sport's credibility.

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 best," he said.

The fine Ferrari were given in Germany was the maximum the stewards were allowed to impose immediately after the race.

for more news : Ferrari face fate at FIA hearing