No Team Orders

The FIA has said that they will closely examine the running of the last two races of the year to ensure that there is nothing that could be viewed as using team orders in use. FIA president Max Mosley said that this rule would be "strictly applied".

Mosley said: "Any evidence of team orders will be put in front of stewards - and I mean any evidence. The wording of the regulations made in October last year was done with the agreement of the teams. This has not changed and it will be strictly applied.

"They have already approved a hard line on team orders and the FIA is determined to see it through for the good of the sport. It's not just a case of reacting to the blatant use of team orders, we will be looking at everything."

With the championship contenders separated by only the smallest of margins it is expected that they will receive some from of assistance from their team-mates. But the team will have to be careful what the exact nature of this assistance is. Allowing a team-mate to pass is something that the FIA views as not been allowed.

But will the teams simply hide the fact that they are providing assistance by doing things like extending the time that one of their teams cars is in the pits.

WilliamsF1 Technical Director Patrick Head said: "If the drivers chose to make that decision, that's up to the drivers. It won't be imposed by the team as clearly we're not allowed to."

Mosley added: "The FIA stewards can draw inferences from circumstances and take whatever action they think is necessary. We do not want the teams to have any illusions about where we stand on this.

"There have been comments from teams that this is not a black-and-white issue, but everyone knows when they have crossed the line as far as team orders are concerned."