BMW Announce Diffuser Protest in Australia

Red Bull Racing might have announced a potential protest to the rear diffuser designs used by Williams, Toyota and Brawn GP, but it is BMW Sauber who have confirmed it. Talking to British magazine Autosport, BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen revealed his team will submit a protest to the FIA should the three cars in question make it past the Thursday scrutineering at Albert Park.

As far as Theissen is concerned, the only reason why the protest is to be submitted is to finally decided whether the new designs are legal or not. It's quite obvious that the rules' interpretation ahead of the new season has been different in the case of the aforementioned teams, so it will now be the FIA to decide on their legality.

“We will lodge a protest against all three teams. We are preparing our protest and we will see what happens. It is not for me to decide what is right or wrong. But to me there are definitely different interpretations of the rules and we need clarity as quickly as possible,” said Theissen, according to Autosport.

The FIA has already cleared all rear diffuser designs ahead of the new season – through race director Charlie Whiting – but an official and final response is yet to be issued. It is believed that, if the international body will consider the designs are compliant with the 2009 regulation, most of the teams will copy them as it provides improved levels of downforce.

Renault have also pointed to the 3 teams during the Barcelona testing session in mid-March, as Flavio Briatore suggested they are using illegal aerodynamics for their 2009 package. Ferrari are also believed to protest the diffusers later this week.