Williams delighted

Both the cars from the Williams and BMW Sauber teams were allowed to retain their finishing positions at Interlagos by race stewards despite their fuel being found to be cooler than the regulations allow.

McLaren, who would have seen Lewis Hamilton take the world title if Nico Rosberg, Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld had been thrown out, appealed the decision.

But the international Court of Appeal threw out their case on the grounds that, as the fuel had been measured in the rig, and not in the car, there was no way of knowing whether or not the actual machines had broken F1's technical rules.

And Williams, led by Sir Frank Williams, said that they felt vindicated by the results of the appeal.

"Williams F1 welcome the findings of the FIA's International Court of Appeal (ICA), investigating the matter of the fuel temperatures recorded at the Brazilian Grand Prix earlier this year," the team said.

"The outcome of the hearing means that the Steward's decision in Brazil in relation to this matter remains in force and valid.

"The AT&T Williams team did not transgress the regulations, demonstrate any intent or gain any competitive advantage in relation to the management of its race fuels.

"In order to respect the Court of Appeal process, Williams has refrained from making any public statement until a conclusion had been reached.

"The team can now confirm that the facts of this case are as follows:-

"1. Article 6.5.4 of the

FIA

Technical Regulations states that no fuel onboard the car may be more than 10 C below ambient temperature.

"2. There is no specified source for the ambient temperature measurement, and there is no homologated and sealed sensor for measuring fuel temperature either in the fuel rigs or on-board the cars.

"3. Meteo France, who provide official temperature measurements for the FIA and

Formula One teams, recorded a maximum ambient temperature during the Brazilian GP of 33 C.

"4. The lowest temperatures recorded by Williams' precise on-board sensors in the fuel tank and in the fuel injection rail on either of its cars during the Grand Prix were 31 C and 35 C respectively.

"5. Consequently, as the Stewards found, there was no breach of the regulations.

"6. All of the preceding points are consistent with all of the clarifications and opinions related to fuel temperatures expressed in Team Managers' Meetings and other such forums. The views offered in these meetings fully support Williams' case as presented to the FIA ICA.

"These facts lay behind the Steward's decision in Brazil. Williams was pleased to be able to present these facts to the ICA and see the Steward's decision upheld, confirming that both Williams race cars were legal throughout the course of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

"In the event, the appeal of the Steward's decision was found to be inadmissible as McLaren failed to follow the correct and clearly documented protest procedure."

The results of the race meant that Hamilton missed out on becoming Formula One's first rookie champion by just a point to Kimi Raikkonen.