Barrichello avoids gearbox change

There had been debate over whether to make an unscheduled gearbox switch last night due to the damage Barrichello's car sustained during the Belgian Grand Prix, where it caught fire at the end of the race following an oil leak.

But Brawn GP confirmed this morning that it would keep the original gearbox in the car and avoid the five place grid demotion that Barrichello would have received.

The decision will come as a boost to Barrichello, who yesterday admitted that he was very keen to avoid the penalty if possible.

"There is a little bit of a conversation with the team about my gearbox, over the over-torque that happened in the last race, and I don't want it changed - some people want it - I don't want to be leading the race and have a failure, at the same time I have to fight for what I really can achieve which is winning tomorrow," he said last night.