Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn hits out at rival teams' exhaust designs

Amid an ongoing row over the design of a DRS-activated F-duct on Brawn's own Mercedes car, the team principal thinks that it is wrong that his team is being singled out for technical scrutiny.

"Every year that I can remember, there is debate and argument," said Brawn about his car being at the centre of paddock gossip in Australia. "And probably, to be honest, what we have done is taken the spotlight off the exhaust systems that people are running because they are nowhere near what was intended by the FIA.

"The FIA probably told you all that we were not going to have exhaust blown diffusers any more. We thought we were not going to have them. But several cars have got them.

"Our wing system has probably taken the spotlight off something that was clearly never intended.

"F1 is very competitive, the people involved in it are extremely competitive, and it is the nature of F1. You have to work to written regulations and, if somebody can see a clever interpretation, then that is the nature of this business."

Although Brawn still faces the risk of a rival team protesting the legality of the rear wing design on his car, he has ruled out lodging a similar complaint against the exhaust designs elsewhere.

"We have already been through the FIA and challenged the FIA to its interpretation," he said. "They told us that they are comfortable with what has happened, so we respect that.

"We are now looking at the systems people are using to see if we feel that they could be a benefit to us. I suspect they will disappear next year."