PARIS - Motor racing faces a potentially divisive meeting here on Wednesday when the Formula One teams who refused to race in last week`s US Grand Prix over the safety of their tyres are hauled before a disciplinary hearing.
Relations between Federation Internationale de l`Automobile (FIA) president Max Mosley and the constructors hit an all-time low after seven teams pulled out of the race at Indianapolis amid safety concerns following unexplained tyre failures.
Their punishment is set to be a hefty fine, as suffered by Ferrari when they schemed the result of the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, but insiders believe even that would be foolish of Formula One governing body, the FIA, considering the delicate political situation.
The Indianapolis safety issue has become a key point in a massive political civil war and although the next assault from the FIA will come in Paris several insiders are questioning why it is not held in the independent court.
"Michelin have admitted responsibility for their problems so now there are two parties who could be wholly or partly culpable for what happened at Indianapolis," said one source.
"Those are the teams and the FIA. The forum making the decision should be an independent court, not an FIA-backed body. If there is a decision it will just move the fight on to the International Court of Appeal, unless things come to a head already on Wednesday."
Mosley, who was voted into office in 1991, has upset many team bosses by trying to get them to discuss the sport`s future without promising the greater share of revenue they are seeking.
Problems deepened when the FIA and the sport`s commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone convinced Ferrari to quit a breakaway group of manufacturers and commit to Formula One until 2012.
The FIA president has also been the subject of heavy criticism for what many see as him refusing to allow a compromise at Indianapolis on June 19 that would have allowed all the teams, including Bridgestone runners Ferrari, Jordan and Minardi, to contest the event.
Reports have suggested teams could boycott future races if they get severe penalties for their role in the US Grand Prix fiasco.
But Mosley warned: "The governing body will always win."
In an interview last week in The Guardian, Mosley dismissed fears of a strike and said: "I`m not concerned if they take an antagonistic line.
"What are they going to do? If they go on strike, they`re simply cutting off their nose to spite their face. That won`t happen."
Mosley says punishment could range from a reprimand to a ban for life - but he thought the punishment would fall between those two extremes.
Minardi boss Paul Stoddart said it would be wrong to hand out "draconian bans" to the seven teams at Wednesday`s hearing.
"Would we race after a penalty? I think we`d have a meeting and you wouldn`t guarantee it," Stoddart said.
"It could be anything - I have heard unofficial reports of what it might be, ranging from a 2.5 million dollar fine to a suspended ban, to all kinds of possible things. I would hope Max would come to his senses but who knows?"
Stoddart, who blamed Mosley for the fiasco, said the teams would fight a ban all the way through the civil courts.
Mosley has defended his decision to block a plan to build a chicane at the circuit`s final corner which could have solved the problem at Indianapolis where Michelin found their tyres could not withstand the pressure of the banked curves.
Mosley said the FIA could not change its rules just because some teams had not taken the right equipment to a race.
But Stoddart, whose team use Bridgestone tyres and did race in the US, admitted that while Michelin had erred, it had made every effort to solve the problem.
"They chartered a private jet and flew in replacement tyres and found they had the same problem. That was force majeure in my opinion. At that point what we needed was crisis management and what we got from Mosley as usual was management in crisis."
Stoddart denied Mosley`s claims that to have put in a chicane would have led to legal and insurance problems in the US.
The seven teams - Williams, McLaren, Renault, Sauber, Toyota, BAR-Honda and Red Bull - face losing constructors` world championship points or punitive fines, as well as charges of bringing the sport into disrepute.
Any points penalties would damage the championship ambitions of Renault and McLaren, as well as Williams and Toyota in joint fourth place.

06/28/2005 15:04 GMT