McLaren disappointed with F-duct ban

Whitmarsh said that the device, which was pioneered by McLaren this season, was an indication of what could be achieved for relatively little financial outlay, and praised the work of his team in coming up with the concept of stalling air over a car's rear wing to reduce drag.

"Relating to the F-duct, we are very proud of our guys who thought of it, and compared to some other things, it's a very low-cost technology to apply, and there are a number of reasons why something like that is good for the sport," he told a Vodafone teleconference.

"It doesn't have a high cost, it just needs a bit of ingenuity. Personally I'm a bit sad about it, but we will continue to develop in that area. Already this year a lot of teams are working hard in that area in any case."

Despite his frustration at the F-duct's banning, he believes that the Formula One Teams' Association's procedure for dealing with technical innovations is better than the old system.

"Historically Formula 1 had veto rights that could block virtually any change, in essence, one team could singularly veto a technical change," he added.

"That was very useful when you were defending your own technology, but it made it very difficult for the sport to evolve and manage in the face of those challenges we had.

"Now though, if you are happy to accept a voting majority on issues, then you have to be prepared to be bound by those decisions. From time to time there will be decisions you're less happy with, but overall FOTA's decisions are the right ones."