Toyota and Brawn welcome FIA diffuser decision

Toyota and Brawn GP have responded with pleasure to news that the FIA’s International Court of Appeal has declared their rear diffusers legal. Along with Williams, the two teams had been racing under appeal after rivals questioned the legality of their ‘double decker’ designs, despite stewards at March’s Australian Grand Prix authorising their use.
In a statement released after the FIA’s announcement on Wednesday, Brawn GP team principal Ross Brawn said: "We are pleased with the decision reached by the International Court of Appeal today. We respect the right of our competitors to query any design or concept used on our cars through the channels available to them."The FIA Technical Department, the Stewards at the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix and now five judges at the International Court of Appeal have confirmed our belief that our cars have always strictly complied with the 2009 Technical Regulations.
The decision of the International Court of Appeal brings this matter to its conclusion and we look forward to continuing on the track the challenge of what has been a very exciting start to the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship."

Toyota commented: “Toyota Motorsport is pleased to hear the FIA International Court of Appeal has upheld the decision of the Australian Grand Prix stewards concerning the rear diffuser on our car. As we have maintained throughout, our team studied the wording of the new 2009 regulations in precise detail to ensure we interpreted them correctly. “We also made full use of the consultation procedure with the FIA which was a helpful process to ensure our interpretation of the technical regulations was correct. Therefore we had every confidence that the design of our car would be confirmed as legal, firstly by race stewards in Australia and Malaysia and subsequently by the Court of Appeal.”
Toyota’s chairman and team principal Tadashi Yamashina was equally satisfied with the Court’s decision: "I was confident the Court of Appeal would reach this verdict and I am satisfied with it. It is important to stress we studied the technical regulations in precise detail, consulting the FIA in our process, and never doubted our car complied with them. This has been a challenging period for Formula One and I am pleased this issue is now in the past and we can focus on an exciting season on the track."

Brawn GP, who are currently leading the constructors’ standings on 25 points, and second placed Toyota (16.5), will be back in action on Friday when first practice for this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix gets underway in Shanghai.