Ferrari are to go before the World Motor Sport Council hoping to avoid punishment over the team orders furore.

Motor sport's world governing body, the FIA, have confirmed Ferrari will face a disciplinary hearing in Paris on Wednesday, September 8, with the Italian Grand Prix the following Sunday.

However, due to an obvious conflict of interests, FIA president and former Ferrari team boss Jean Todt will not stand as chair, the position falling to Nick Craw, the FIA deputy president for sport.

The Maranello marque have already been fined 100,000 US dollars by the stewards who ruled over the German Grand Prix on July 25.

The stewards declared Ferrari in breach of article 39.1 of the FIA 2010 sporting regulations that states 'team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited.'

They were also charged with a breach of article 151c of the FIA International Sporting Code.

That relates to 'any fraudulent conduct, or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally'.

The stewards were forced to investigate after Felipe Massa slowed on lap 49 of the 67-lap race at Hockenheim to allow by team-mate Fernando Alonso who went on to claim victory.

The manoeuvre followed what appeared to be a coded message from his race engineer Rob Smedley, who slowly stated to Massa "Fernando is quicker than you."

When Massa did nothing, Smedley then asked the 29-year-old whether he had heard the earlier message, shortly after which he then gave way.

That prompted Smedley to apologise to Massa, and after the race he declared the Brazilian had been "magnanimous" in his gesture.

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner made it clear what he had witnessed was "the clearest team order I've ever seen."

Both drivers and team boss Stefano Domenicali had all declared their innocence prior to the stewards' verdict.

But following a judgment that stunned the team, Domenicali then expressed confidence "that the World Council will know how to evaluate the overall facts correctly."

Ferrari, however, have broken the rules, with the one relating to team orders introduced after the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix.

That was when Ferrari manipulated the result, with Todt ordering Rubens Barrichello to pull to one side and allow Michael Schumacher to take the chequered flag.

The WMSC have far-reaching powers at their disposal that include the possibility of excluding a team from the championship.