Symonds certain of fair fight with Ferrari

That is the view of Renault's director of engineering Pat Symonds, who says he is confident that neither Ferrari nor his team will try anything on-the-edge despite both championships hanging in the balance.

"I am sure it will be clean," he said. "I think there is such a spotlight on it, that there will not be anything untoward."

Although Renault boss Flavio Briatore was critical of Massa's actions in qualifying, where the Brazilian held up Alonso during the start of Q3, Symonds has said he has accepted the situation.

"There were a few drops of rain falling at Turns 13 and 14, so we decided we better push just in case it rained heavier," explained Symonds. "We turned the engines up, we tried to push, but Felipe was in the way.

"We asked Charlie Whiting to get him to move over, but he said there were no blue flags in qualifying. So it was luck of the draw. We accept the FIA's decision as well."

When asked whether he saw a certain irony in the fact that Alonso was closer to Massa than the pair had been at Monza, where Alonso was penalized for blocking, Symonds said: "You can't get my nod on your tape recorder."