Brawn angered over brake light ban

Brake lights were introduced as part of several safety changes brought in by motorsport's governing body, the FIA, at the same time as the return of traction control in April this year.

The brake lights were not to be run until they had been sufficiently tested, and following problems during early testing, F1's team bosses voted against them during a meeting over the Italian Grand Prix weekend three weeks ago. However, Brawn believes it was wrong to outlaw them without proper evaluation.

"I think it is a shame that some people have vetoed them before we have even experimented with them," Brawn told this week's Autosport magazine. "I will be the first to admit that if there are problems when we run them, and if they are not regarded to be advantageous, then we shouldn't go ahead. But to cancel them before we have even tried is short-sighted. I think that anything that can help safety is a benefit."

Despite the vote to ban brake lights, Ferrari has carried on with its tests regardless and ran them during Saturday's free practice sessions at Indianapolis last weekend as well as at Monza two weeks before.

The Maranello team's system has modified software that features a time delay of just 50 milliseconds which is designed to prevent the light coming on during gear changes and when running over kerbs. The light is activated when a deceleration force of more than 1g is detected or when the pressure on the brake pedal from the driver has reached between 15 and 20 bar.

Even if brake lights remain outlawed, Brawn says that Ferrari could use them next year anyway, subject to further successful testing.

For full Ross Brawn Q&A, (click here).