FERRARI SHOULD LEARN today the verdict of an FIA hearing into the ‘team orders’ controversy which has been rumbling on since July.

The team has already been fined $100,000 for allegedly secretly ordering Felipe Massa to allow teammate Fernando Alonso to pass him during the German Grand Prix via coded message.

Alonso could be docked points which would effectively end Ferrari’s hopes of reclaiming the World Championship this season.

Team principal Federico Domenicali is in Paris for the FIA hearing, and says “we’re sure the World Council will understand our position.”

Ferrari allegedly broke two sections of the F1 rulebook. One is article 39.1 of the regulations, report the BBC, 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?”

Ferrari are currently eighty points behind Red Bull in the constructor’s championship, while Alonso trails Lewis Hamilton by forty-one points in the driver’s championship.