Rear wing situation understandable, says Howett

The Toyota team is positive that the rear wing issue which saw its two cars relegated to the back of the grid in Melbourne, is resolved.

The TF109s of Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli lost their individual sixth and eighth places on the grid, which quickly became 19th and 20th.The rear wing of no car can contain individual moving parts according to regulations, although the FIA's regular inspections of the Toyotas after qualifying revealed that their rear wings contain flexible elements, which is disallowed.

John Howett

The Toyota F1 President, John Howett, understands the problem but cannot solve it without an exception of the rules taking place: "From our point of view it is very simple," Howett commented. "We do, however, need the FIA's agreement to be able to release the cars from Parc Fermé and change them."

All cars top ten-qualified cars, under normal circumstances, remain in the secure area over Saturday night as rules state that drivers must start the race with the setup with which they qualified.

Howett is annoyed but believes the punishment fits the crime: "I'm a bit disappointed, but in the end we are at the premier level of world motorsport. Competitors have the right to protest and we expect the regulator to enforce the rules." He also added that the cars could be starting from the pit lane, in order to add fuel and modify strategies at the end of the formation lap. "We are checking whether we can but I understand the stewards have other issues too, so it's a bit difficult to get exact information."