MOTORSPORT: Ralf Schumacher will this morning go to an FIA court in Paris knowing that his championship hopes lie in the hands of the four men assembled to hear his appeal against a penalty imposed on him after he was held responsible for the multiple collision at the first corner of the German Grand Prix on August 3rd.

Under the judgment Schumacher will be demoted 10 places on the starting grid from his qualifying position for the Hungarian GP on Sunday, but today his Williams team will attempt to argue that the penalty is draconian given that it is virtually impossible to overtake at the tight and twisting Hungaroring.

Schumacher knows that unless the court takes a lenient - perhaps substituting a fine for the grid penalty - his title hopes could be dashed. He is fourth in the championship on 53 points, 18 behind his brother Michael.

Accelerating towards the first corner from the front row of the grid at Hockenheim, Schumacher's Williams-BMW FW25 moved left, squeezing Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari against Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren-Mercedes, which was in turn attempting to pass the Italian car on the left-hand side of the track.

"Ralf Schumacher admitted to paying no attention to the position of the other cars during this manoeuvre," the stewards' judgment read. "It is clear Ralf Schumacher's car made contact with car number two \, which in turn made contact with car number six \.

"Both drivers of cars number two and six were caught in a set of circumstances over which they had no control."

Schumacher said: "I was just trying to defend my position and I didn't make any sudden move or anything, so there was all the time in the world for the other cars to move away from me."

In the incident, however, Raikkonen, in attempting to pass Barrichello on the left, was being squeezed off circuit as Barrichello was pressured by Schumacher and and as the Brazilian moved to avoid Schumacher a collision was inevitable.

Barrichello and Raikkonen will also appear before the court as witnesses today and the decision will be made public tomorrow.

Perhaps the keenest viewer of events in Paris will be Schumacher's team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya. The Colombian is second in the championship, six points adrift of Michael Schumacher, with just four races to go.

With the Williams FW25 arguably now the best package on the grid, Ralf Schumacher's presence at the front of the Hungarian grid is a complication Montoya will surely like to avoid in his quest to wrest the title from the elder Schumacher.