Schumacher faces dressing down

Formula One chiefs today summoned Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello to appear before the World Motor Sport's Council following the 'race of shame' in Austria.

The drivers and their Ferrari team are in hot water after four-times world champion Schumacher's win in the Austrian Grand Prix.

Team-mate Barrichello obeyed team orders and moved over at the last corner on the A1-Ring yesterday, allowing Schumacher to continue his march towards another world title.

The drivers will have to appear at the Council's next meeting in Paris on 26 June. The incident could not have come at a worse time for the sport.

Grand Prix bosses were desperate for a thrilling race after Schumacher's processional triumphs in the previous two outings and they got that until the last 100mwhen the Brazilian, who had dominated all but one of the 71 laps, gave way.

Even before the boos of the crowd had died down, there were calls for the FIA, the sport's world governing body, to launch an investigation into the result.

"It was a terrible decision," said former Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger, now motorsport chief at Ferrari's rivals BMW-Williams.

"This does damage the sport. There was no need to do this so early in the season, I just don't understand it. We have a police which is the FIA and they have to take care of it."

McLaren boss Ron Dennis said: "What they have done is completely within the rules. They have done it before and they'll do it again."

The FIA could decide that Ferrari have brought the sport into disrepute and reverse the finishing order, disqualify both drivers or ban them from future races.

The latter would certainly revive interest in the World Drivers' Championship.

The destiny of the drivers' crown - if no major punishment is administered - is more inevitable than ever, with Schumacher now 27 points ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya, of Williams, with 11 races left.

Schumacher, clearly stunned by the hostile reaction, revealed afterwards that he had considered disobeying the order to let Barrichello claim only the second win of his career.

He said: "It was probably the wrong decision to win this race."

F1 2002 - essential guide