FIA hearing did not influence Ferrari

Ferrari are due to appear before the FIA World Sports Council on Wednesday but principal Jean Todt denied the hearing had any influence on Rubens Barrichello's victory in Europe yesterday. Many waited with bated breath to see if Ferrari would call team orders into play as they had at the Austrian Grand Prix, a move that was met with universal derision. But this time Barrichello was not asked to move over for team mate Michael Schumacher.

"We did not have Wednesday in mind at all," Todt said when it was suggested not using team orders would mollify the FIA ahead of the hearing. "I am not getting into what I think about the FIA because I will only be able to comment when we have the hearing. I am not at all expecting a difficult situation."

Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn admitted the team learned a lesson after what happened in Austria and could have handled it better: "Life is a learning process and we learned in Austria that there were some things we would handle differently," he commented "We don't deny there are things we wish we had handled differently. What went on in the race was unpopular but it was not illegal."

Brawn added that team orders were not necessary in the European Grand Prix as Schumacher has increased lead in the championship: "The championship has moved on a bit since Austria and there was no need for team orders," he said. "It was agreed before the race that both drivers were allowed to race until the last pit stop and then we asked them to conserve their positions."