Crucial formula one hearing starts

An international appeal court has began a hearing that will either confirm Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen as 2007 Formula One champion or hand the title to McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

The four judges met in London with representatives of the two teams, as well as BMW Sauber and Williams, to hear an appeal by McLaren against a stewards' decision at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix last month.

An International Automobile Federation (FIA) spokeswoman said a judgment was likely to come tomorrow.

Raikkonen won the drivers' title from 22-year-old rookie Hamilton by a single point but fuel samples from the three cars that finished ahead of Hamilton in that race were found to have used fuel that was cooler than the regulations allow.

McLaren appealed after the race stewards decided not to impose sanctions on the BMW Sauber and Williams cars due to what they said were "considerable discrepancies" in the data.

If the three drivers are disqualified and McLaren's Hamilton is promoted from seventh to fourth, the 22-year-old rookie would leapfrog Finn Raikkonen in the final standings to become the youngest champion.