Ferrari's appeal against the shock disqualification of Eddie Irvine and Michael Schumacher from the Malaysian Grand Prix will be heard on Friday in Paris, Formula One's governing body FIA announced yesterday.

Irvine, still stunned by his disqualification, expressed optimism that the independent FIA tribunal would overturn the ruling that invalidated Ferrari's one-two finish in Sunday's race.

That decision handed this year's world championship to Finland's Mika Hakkinen unless Ferrari win their toughest battle of the year on Friday.

"I hope the judges decide that the punishment was too heavy. I'm convinced that, aside from the facts of what happened, the final decision will take account of people's good faith," said Irvine.

Ferrari will be defended by the Italian Automobile Club (AIC), whose president Rosario Alessi is squarely in the camp of those who believe the punishment was far greater than the crime deserved.

"It's like being given a life sentence in jail for a parking offence," Alessi said.

The famous Italian racing stable may take some comfort from a decision taken by the FIA appeal's panel in 1995 when Schumacher and David Coulthard were thrown out of the Brazilian Grand Prix after finishing first and second because their fuel samples failed the post-race test.

But on appeal it was argued there was no performance advantage and the drivers had their points restored but not those of the team. That could be a possible option that the court will consider this Friday.

Ferrari has not publicly disputed FIA's ruling that the deflector panels on its cars had a 10 millimetre disparity from the authorised specification. But the company insists it did not obtain any unfair advantage over its competitors as a result of what appears to have been a production error.

"I can't believe that they are taking the points and the leadership of the world championship away from me for something like that," Irvine said. "The punishment is too harsh compared to the crime.

"I'm relying on Ferrari's ability to defend themselves," he said. "As a driver, I can't make any appeals. All I can do is drive and say that the car was exactly the same as the one at the Nurburgring.

"It seems impossible to me to lose a world championship over a story like this. Eveyone in Formula One knows that things like these give you little or no advantage at all . . . it was an oversight," he said.

Irvine was backed up by Hakkinen whose belated promotion from third to race winner saw him crowned champion for the second year running with an unassailable 12-point lead - for now anyway.

Hakkinen said: "I don't really like it. It is not the way to win a title. It does not feel good to me. They won the race fair and square on the track. But the team does not want me to talk about this until after the hearing."

Hakkinen's McLaren boss Ron Dennis also believes it would be a hollow title victory. "This is not a way to win a World Championship," he said. "It is bad for the sport."

Schumacher said he felt for his Ferrari team. The former double champion, who spoke to ANSA news agency while holidaying on an Indonesian island, said: "I feel very sorry for the team, because they did all that work for nothing."

But the German, who has been disqualified himself with Benetton in the past, added: "These things happen. And anyway what could I do about it?"

Looking ahead, he said regretfully: "It would all be very different if, at Suzuka, I was going there to help the team try and win the world championship."

Friday's hearing will be conducted by at least three of the FIA appeal panel's 15 elected members. They are all experienced lawyers or judges with a good knowledge of Grand Prix racing.

The court will hear depositions from each party and their advisers before examining the dossier with a ruling expected Saturday.

Whatever the outcome Sunday's debacle is likely to lead to a shake-up at Ferrari's Maranello headquarters. Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo is expected to read the riot act and the head of French team boss Jean Todt could be first on the chopping block.

The Italian press had already been baying for the Frenchman's blood after Ferrari's calamitous performance at last month's European Grand Prix, where Irvine arrived for a pit stop to find only three tyres waiting for him.

Yesterday's Gazzetta dello Sport demanded a clean sweep at Maranello with the headline: "Bring out the guilty men."

"Millions of Italians feel betrayed, Ferrari's credibility in the world has suffered another blow," the paper said. "World championship lost for the latest act of madness," headlined rival paper Tuttosport.

Todt for his part returned to Italy accepting the blame, but insisting that race officials were wrong. Todt was adamant that the 10 millimetres made no difference to the cars' performance and that the punishment was completely out of line with the infringement.

"I have a great pain in my heart, but also the desire to react," said the Frenchman, who arrived from Malaysia and headed straight for a meeting with Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo at their headquarters here.

"That small difference in design does not justify the decision to disqualify the two cars," he said. "The punishment is disproportionate."

As for the appeal, which is likely to be based on two arguments - that Ferrari did not break the rules intentionally and anyway did not gain any performance advantage - Todt said: "We must build up a very clear and precise dossier."

As for his own feeling the morning after, Todt told ANSA news agency: "What displeases me is that a day like that finished the way it did. I feel responsible (for what happened) because I am the director of sporting management. I'm the chief and therefore I'm always going to be the one responsible, but clearly this is a technical problem."