Ferrari escaped penalty in Wednesday’s team orders disciplinary hearing because there was not enough proof, FIA president Jean Todt has confirmed.

Former Ferrari boss Todt, whose team order at the A1-Ring in 2002 famously triggered the imposition of the ban, admitted he suspects a similar order was in effect when Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso swapped places at Hockenheim.

“I tend to agree as well,” said the Frenchman when told that many people believe July’s events constituted a rules breach.

“Before you say you are guilty, you need to be able to prove that you are guilty,” said Todt in a video interview with the BBC.

He said the Maranello based team “denied” Massa had slowed down to let Alonso past as the result of a team order.

But, away from the FIA’s headquarters at Place de la Concorde, Ferrari would clearly like to see the team orders rule repealed.

The governing body has vowed to reconsider the regulation, and team boss Stefano Domenicali agreed: “This is an important step towards transparency.”

Ferrari race drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa will address Wednesday’s FIA disciplinary hearing by video link.

It emerged last week that the pair, accused of obeying illegal team orders by swapping places at Hockenheim in July, had been summoned to the World Motor Sport Council session in Paris.

Reports indicated that the pair may appear in person or by video, probably from a location within Italy.

An article in the British newspaper Daily Telegraph, confirmed by the Maranello based team, said Alonso and Massa will be available to the FIA by video.

After Wednesday’s hearing, it is expected the verdict will be published later that day.

Team boss Domenicali and team manager Massimo Rivola, alongside the obligatory lawyers, are slated to be in attendance at the Place de la Concorde.

Alonso’s world championship chances are riding on the outcome, given his already 41 point deficit to leader Lewis Hamilton.

Should his Hockenheim points be deducted as a further penalty by the World Council, the Spaniard’s deficit – with six races left to run – would blow out to 70 points, because other championship contenders also stand to benefit.

Giorgio Beghella Bartoli, director of the Italian grand prix venue Monza, thinks Ferrari should escape sanction.

“As for the (team orders) regulation, an instruction (at Hockenheim) was not there,” he is quoted in Italian reports.

“Because an engineer (Rob Smedley) said ‘sorry’?  What kind of proof is that?” he insisted.

Livio Oricchio, an authoritative Brazilian journalist, went a step further, urging the FIA to scrap the team orders ban altogether.

“There is no way to control them.  Ending the ban respects the truth, therefore the fan.  And, as paradoxically as it may seem, the sport.

“On some occasions, the outcome of a race has been decided within a team and few people knew about it,” he wrote in his column in the Jornal da Tarde.

Ferrari’s race drivers have been summoned by the FIA to the forthcoming disciplinary hearing of the World Motor Sport Council.

That is the claim of the Spanish sports daily AS, which on Friday said both Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa must appear either in person in Paris or via video link.

The pair swapped positions during July’s German grand prix at Hockenheim, allegedly due to the imposition of an illegal team order.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said before leaving Spa-Francorchamps last weekend that he was “sure the World Council will understand our point” on September 8.

But some, including Red Bull’s Helmut Marko, are hoping the outcome will be a points loss for the Italian team and its drivers.

“No, I don’t think so, we’re relaxed,” said Alonso last Sunday.

After Wednesday’s hearing, it is expected the verdict will be published later that day.

As well as the drivers and legal team, boss Domenicali and team manager Massimo Rivola are also slated to be in attendance at Place de la Concorde.