The McLaren and Williams Formula One teams have been summoned to a meeting of motor racing's international governing body today to answer allegations that they conspired to fix the result of last month's European grand Prix, the final round of the 1997 World Championship.
They will be required to explain the circumstances surrounding the final lap of the race when Jacques Villeneuve's Williams apparently slowed up, allowing the McLarens of Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard through to finish first and second.
This second investigation was announced by the FIA whose world council meeting this morning is already scheduled to grill Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher over his collision with Villeneuve in the same event.
The two teams are having their behaviour challenged under Article 15 of motor racing's international sporting code which makes "any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally" a clear breach of the rules.
However, Frank Williams has joined McLaren managing director Ron Dennis in robustly denying any wrong-doing.
"We confirm we are in receipt of the request to appear in front of the FIA, with just 24 hours notice," he said yesterday. "We shall of course attend, but we presently have no formal knowledge of the evidence which supports their allegations and are clearly not in a position to give further details.
"We reject, in the strongest possible terms, any allegations of unsporting behaviour or improper conduct and trust that the FIA will be fully satisfied that neither Williams nor McLaren are guilty of an impropriety in relation to these or any other matters."
The FIA's case will hinge round tapes of radio conversations between Williams team technicians and Villeneuve in the closing stages of the race as the Canadian driver was nursing his car which had been damaged when Schumacher drove into him earlier in the race.
Technically an infringement of these rules could involve the withdrawal of world championship points, but it is unlikely that the governing body would want to amend any race results at the end of the season. However, sources close to the FIA president Max Mosley have hinted that teams will receive a warning that any future charges of collusion could, if proven, result in suspension from one or more races.
Like Williams, the McLaren team believes there is little substance to these allegations. Dennis has pointed out that Hakkinen and Coulthard intensified their pressure in the closing stages of the race, knowing full well that Villeneuve's lap times were fluctuating erratically as he grappled with inconsistent tyre wear caused by his Williams's bent suspension.
"Hakkinen closed dramatically on Villeneuve who we thought was not going to resist our attack, which was quite logical because he only had to finish in the top six to clinch the championship," he said.
"We knew he wasn't going to resist, so we went on the attack. The timing of these allegations could be seen by some as a smokescreen to deflect attention from the main issue facing Schumacher."
"We had a commitment to the two teams involved that we would not do anything to jeopardise their fight and we kept out cars out of the way.
"It's clear that we were far removed from the fight between Villeneuve and Schumacher and the incident happened on another part of the track.
"It's just absolutely ludicrous of anybody who has even the remotest idea of what Grand Prix is about to think that we have contributed to the outcome of the World Championship.
"The whole thing is all a smoke screen to distract the people who have to make a judgment over what really took place away from the main issue," he said.
"Once Schumacher was out we felt we could go for a win," Dennis added.
Interestingly, the Sauber team, whose driver Norberto Fontana badly held up Villeneuve after allowing Schumacher's Ferrari to overtake, will not join McLaren and Williams in the dock today. The fact that Sauber also use Ferrari engines must be regarded by the FIA as a mere coincidence.
