Formula One Prone to Paranoia, Says Brawn

Ferrari's Ross Brawn stepped into the hot seat on Friday to defend his team's sporting reputation and accuse angry Formula One rivals of paranoia.

"As we know, paranoia runs rife in Formula One," the technical director told an Italian Grand Prix news conference.

Ferrari stirred up a fierce controversy last month, days after ceding the overall lead to Williams, by accusing other teams of using illegal tyres as the closest Championship in years reaches boiling point.

"All the suggestions of Machiavellian plots are just the normal paranoia that runs in Formula One. I think it is a fantastic Championship, I don't think this is going to make a huge difference," said Brawn.

He was surrounded by bosses from Williams, McLaren and Renault whose teams all run on the Michelin tyres and have been dominant in recent races while Ferrari's fortunes have deteriorated.

His comments came after Williams counterpart Patrick Head had angrily interrupted the Englishman to ask why Ferrari had waited for 38 races before questioning a design that Williams had used since 2001.

"If you had this view all this time, it seems an odd time to raise it, Ross," said Head.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis said the controversy "most definitely has had a negative influence on us and I think that was part of the strategy."

After Ferrari, constructors' champions for the past four years, were humbled in Hungary three weeks ago they told the governing FIA that they suspected Michelin broke the rules.

Williams lead Ferrari by eight points while their Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya is one point behind Michael Schumacher in the drivers' title race. McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen is two adrift of the German.

Maranello Meeting

Max Mosley, head of the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA), visited Ferrari's Maranello headquarters with race director Charlie Whiting after the Hungarian race and before a rule clarification was issued.

Michelin have since had to redesign their front tyres to ensure their teams are not disqualified at Monza.

"That meeting was set up months ago," Brawn said of Mosley's visit, adding that Ferrari had been asked not to discuss tyres at it because the issue was under investigation.

"It was a meeting to discuss our business in Formula One...I don't think Max would break his schedule to come over to Italy on a Tuesday after a race for a matter like that. As I say, there's a huge amount of paranoia in Formula One."

Brawn could not say whether Ferrari might question the results of previous races won by Michelin rivals, saying it was something for more senior people to decide. Head said Williams had never had any doubts about the tyres, which had been approved by the FIA.

"Do you really think that a company like Michelin would deliberately create a tyre that was outside a regulation and run it...without checking very, very thoroughly? What we have got here is a change of interpretation," he added.

Head said Williams had suffered some disruption in the run-up to Monza and said Formula One risked exhausting the patience of the public if the Championship descended into chaos and protests.

But he also said controversy was to be expected with the Championship reaching its climax.

"Historically it tends to get contentious towards the end," he said. "This didn't come out of the sun, so to speak, it's just a part of competing. That's all."