McLaren's appeal against David Coulthard's expulsion from Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix is likely to be heard within the next week in the same Paris court that found Ferrari not guilty of cheating at last year's Malaysian Grand Prix.
McLaren are expected to adopt similar tactics as Ferrari in order to hold onto the six points Coulthard scored for taking second place in the race at Interlagos.
The Scot had driven a masterful race to claim the podium finish, running for most of the 72 laps without second and third gear and, in the closing stage, with a failing fourth gear.
It looked like the McLaren number two would get to celebrate his 29th birthday today in some style but some six hours after Coulthard had taken his bows and popped the champagne corks race stewards declared his car illegal.
The controversy began when stewards examined five of the top six finishers (Giancarlo Fisichella's Benetton being the exception) after the race and suspected that rules had been infringed in regard to the planks on the underside of the chassis. These wooden boards are designed to prevent damage to the bottom of the car but under the FIA's rules must not wear by more than one millimetre during the race as any more thinning can sometimes give an aerodynamic advantage.
In the end, Michael Schumacher's winning Ferrari, both Jordans and Ralf Schumacher's Williams were deemed legal owing to the fact that excess wear could not be prevented due to the excessive bottoming the cars had endured due to the extremely bumpy nature of the Interlagos circuit - the condition of which had been a talking point all weekend.
Coulthard though was still deemed to have infringed the rules. According to an FIA statement Coulthard's car had infringed the rules dealing with front wing height, in this case breaking the margin by two millimetres. FIA scrutineer Jo Bauer, the man who banned the Ferraris in Malaysia, took the decision to disqualify Coulthard and informed McLaren.
The team appealed to the stewards, claiming the same wear and tear suffered by the other teams had caused the front wing end plates to rotate on their axis and cause the infringement. The stewards rejected the appeal and eliminated Coulthard from the race classification. McLaren naturally exercised their right to appeal and the hearing is likely to be held this week.
Coulthard's disqualification means that Giancarlo Fisichella now moves to second, equalling his career best finish in Canada last year. Jordan pick up two more constructors' championship points as Heinz-Harald Frentzen moves to third and Jarno Trulli takes fourth.
The elimination of Coulthard also means that both Williams drivers gain with Ralf Schumacher taking two points and Jenson Button sneaking in to grab sixth and, if the appeal is rejected, become, at 20, the youngest ever points scorer in grand prix history.
Williams though were putting any celebratory champagne on ice, a spokesman saying: "Whilst it is great news, it is still only provisional."
