Crisis diffused

Jenson Button and Brawn GP have received a boost, with the International Automobile Federation’s (FIA) court of appeal in Paris ruling that the car is legal. In a Ferrari-led protest five teams had questioned the legality of the diffuser, which they claimed ‘broke the spirit of the rules’. Button won the first two races of the season – Australian and  the Malaysian GP.

“The Court of Appeal has confirmed our belief that our cars have always strictly complied with the 2009 Technical Regulations,” Brawn said. The court also cleared Toyota and Williams, whose cars use similar “split-level” rear diffusers.

Karun Chandhok, who is racing in the GP2 series with the Ocean Racing Technology and is also a commentator for the 2009 F1 season, said the most important thing is that this controversy is over. “Everyone in motor racing is just fed up of hearing how the race results are not definite. From now on, when a driver finishes the race, we know that is the final result,” he told DNA from London.

Chandhok also believes that too much importance was being given to the issue. “The rear diffuser is one of the most important aerodynamics tools in an F1 car. But at the same time it is not the be-all-and-end-all to the success of the Brawn GP car,” he said. “They found a very clever loop hole in the regulations. But the entire car, the way they have worked out the front end and the aerodynamics is what is giving them the lead. The front suspension design is very innovative.”

Chandhok says it might be difficult to quantify the advantage of the diffuser, but in lap time it may be worth .3 seconds. The Indian driver says teams like Ferrari, McLaren, Renault will not be able to redesign the cars for the next two races. But by the Barcelona GP on May 10, they should have the new cars ready.