Dennis Defiant over Third Car

The Woking-based team's disappointing form in 2004 led to slumping to fifth overall in the Constructors' Championship - which meant they were eligible for a rule agreed by all the teams that allows the bottom six teams to run a third car on Fridays.

Although Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn went on the attack in Malaysia last weekend, claiming that it was unfair for a top team like McLaren to run the extra car because the rule was originally designed to help the smaller outfits, Dennis is defiant about his team's use of the car.

"The reality is that the teams unanimously agreed to the process," said Dennis. "We're not exploiting anything that doesn't exist in the rules. If we went into the last Grand Prix and we were in a position that would put us fourth in the points, we would have done it. We are not proud of our 2004 performance.

"Equally if we are out of the top four, under the regulations we are entitled to run a car and we feel comfortable doing it."

Dennis himself, however, thought differently last year.

"I would be very surprised if it happened," he said of the third car rule in September last year. "It was really never designed for any top teams to take advantage. It's pretty simple to see how this will unfold."

The only way that the rule can be changed is for there to be unanimous agreement among the teams - something that is almost certainly impossible to achieve at the moment because of a major split between Ferrari and the rest of the grid over testing limits.