Damon Hill believes Ferrari and Fernando Alonso are unlikely to be punished any further by the World Motor Sport Council for using team orders as the rule is "fundamentally flawed".
The Scuderia's hearing will take place in Paris on Wednesday following the Spaniard's controversial German Grand Prix victory at the end of July. The team have already been fined $100,000 by the stewards after they used a coded message to tell Felipe Massa to allow Alonso through for the win.
The WMSC has the option of either dishing out another fine, strip Alonso and/or Ferrari of the points they won in Hockenheim or decide not to impose any further punishment. Should Alonso lose the points then it will all but end his hopes of winning the 2010 World Championship.
Former World Champion Hill, though, feels Ferrari are likely to "get off".
"Teams say they are not implementing team orders but we all suspect that what they are doing is indicating to the driver how they would like them to perform, which can't be construed as an order," he told The Telegraph.
"It is an issue which has been creeping up for some time and has not been addressed and I think Ferrari might get off because the rules aren't clear.
"This is where the sport doesn't do itself any favours. It needs a media circus to make the necessary changes. I mean, this is happening four days before the Italian Grand Prix."
Should the WMSC decide to punish Ferrari, Hill warns them against coming down too hard by stripping the team of their points.
"Flexing their muscles because they can is not necessarily wise," he added. "I don't think a punishment that big would fit this particular crime."
