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BAR will keep FTT

BAR has vowed to keep the controversial Front Torque Transfer system on its car for the rest of the season after it helped the Brackley-based outfit to its best ever race in Italy on Sunday

Jenson Button and Takuma Sato grabbed an impressive haul of 11 points to allow BAR to leapfrog Renault for second place in the constructors' championship and the team is now set on a major push in the final three races to grab the best-of-the-rest tag behind Ferrari.

One of its key ingredients in achieving that target will be the modified FTT system, which, as Autosport.com exclusively revealed, returned to the team's F1 cars at Monza despite being outlawed at the German Grand Prix.

And despite scepticism from rival teams, BAR technical director Geoff Willis told Autosport.com that he was convinced the FTT device provides enough of a benefit to stay on the car for the final three races of the year.

"The system will be on the car for the rest of the season," he said. "We have got more aerodynamic changes which we are testing this week and we hope they are successful. There will also be more engine developments before the end of the year."

Although some rival teams have questioned the legality of the FTT device, Willis held further talks with FIA technical delegate Charlie Whiting on Sunday morning to ensure that there was no risk of a possible post-race protest.

"I had a long chat with Charlie and he is absolutely adamant that it is completely legal. And that is fine by me."

Willis is optimistic that the team has a realistic chance of beating Renault to the runners-up spot this season - even though he admitted that team mistakes earlier this year did prove costly.

"We are stronger than Renault at the moment but only just," he explained. "On average this year, as a car we are quicker but as a team we have not done as good a job and we are pulling it back in the second half of the year.

"We have an advantage of three points which is a slender advantage to defend over three races. But we will do more than defend it we will extend it."

For further details about how the Front Torque Transfer system works, and why it may need to be renamed, see this week's Autosport magazine, out on Thursday.

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