Diffuser gang pace 'no coincidence'

Six of the top seven times on the opening day of running for the Australian Grand Prix were set by cars whose diffuser designs have been protested by their rivals.

And although Mark Webber broke the stranglehold by setting the fourth quickest time, his boss Horner thinks that the performance of Brawn GP, Williams and Toyota is pointing to the fact that teams will have no choice but to copy the diffuser concept if the FIA Appeal Court confirms that it is legal.

When asked by AUTOSPORT whether there was any coincidence that the 'diffuser' cars were at the top of the timesheets, Horner said: "I don't think there is.

"I think that interpretation offers a performance advantage, so inevitably all of the teams, if that solution is now permitted, will all go off and pursue different variants of it."

The speed of the diffuser cars has led some teams to suggest in private that F1 is now a two-tier championship - with the cars running the diffusers in a class of their own.

Horner did not disagree with the idea.

"You could even say it is three tier: those with KERS and those without, and those with double decker diffuser and those without!

"It is a shame, however, the FIA has ruled that their cars are legal. We obviously have the right to appeal that, but we are here to go racing and we will do the best job we possibly can. Hopefully we can be as close to the front as we can be."

Although Red Bull Racing is set to join Ferrari and Renault in appealing against the decision by the Australian Grand Prix stewards to reject their protest about the diffuser designs, Horner confirmed his team was already evaluating copying the concept - in case the FIA confirms the legality.

"You cannot afford to wait," he said. "So effectively we have already had to start looking at alternative solutions."

Horner admitted, however, that using one of the diffuser designs on the RB5 was not straightforward because of the concept of its car - which includes the rear pull-rod suspension.

"It is feasible, but it depends how far you want go with it," he said. "Potentially it involves significant amounts of time if you were to really optimise to an extreme point - and potentially it involves half of the car. So it is not a quick or cheap solution."