BMW welcomes rules clarification

The FIA had originally planned to ban traction and launch control before the start of the season, but concerns were raised about the time scale for the changes. BMW's two motorsport directors have welcomed the delay, saying that the new date for the ban's introduction represents a sensible timeframe.

"In order to reach a sensible solution, the FIA initially made drastic and ambitious demands," said Gerhard Berger. "That was the pre-condition for proper discussions. Now the discussions have been held and a sensible compromise has been made. Most of the proposals made by the FIA have been approved upon, however, for a different time frame. Now everyone has enough time to get used to the new regulations."

Mario Theissen said: "The new regulations are acceptable for us; we are already working on them. The new regulations aim at the limitation of costs and at re-increasing the attractiveness of the races. BMW supports these aims without reservation. After intensive discussions with the teams, the FIA put the far-reaching rule changes in a practicable time frame.

However, Theissen did say that the FIA needed to develop systems to police the ban before it is introduced. "The monitoring of the elimination of traction control and launch control has to be developed first," he said.