The FIA has heard the WilliamsF1 teams appeal and now it is a case of waiting for the announcement as to how the appeal has gone. For the first time the hearing was broadcast on television in Germany.

The WilliamsF1 team put forward the argument that Ralf was not the sole driver to which blame for the accident could be placed. Both Frank Williams and Ralf Schumacher were at the hearing. Ralf felt that the accident was a motorsport accident with no one at fault. The WilliamsF1 team argued that Ralf was ahead of Barrichello and Raikkonen when the accident happened.

It was further claimed by the WilliamsF1 officials that both Barrichello and Raikkonen were in Ralf's blind spot and that he could not have seen the crash coming. They also stated that Ralf had driven exactly the same line into the first corner at Hockenheim the two previous years. The WilliamsF1 team also said that Barrichello was the only one of the three drivers who braked before the crash, suggested he was the only one who saw what was about to occur.

Ralf indicated to the hearing that been forced out of the race was penalty enough with his championship chances severely affected. Ralf added: "Three of the favourites were out of the race all of a sudden."

Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello told the hearing that Ralf had crashed into him, not the other way around. "I tried to take avoiding action," Barrichello said. "I braked and moved a little bit. I didn't drive into Ralf. He hit me."

Also present was Kimi Raikkonen. He did not accept the view that he could have avoided the accident. "I didn't want to drive off the course because that is not the best route," Raikkonen said.

One thing which may have worked against Ralf was the claim by the race stewards in Germany that he made statements after the race which indicated that he did not pay attention to his cars position. Ralf denied making any post-race statements admitting he displayed a lack of caution .

Ralf said: "It was definitely very annoying. There is no one to blame for this crash. It was a completely normal racing accident. It could have happened to anyone in any race."

If the penalty stands, Schumacher will have to drop ten grid positions from his qualifying position for the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix on August 24. The decision will be made announced on Wednesday.