Today’s decision by the FIA International Court of Appeal hasn’t really stunned the world or me in my world either. It was a decision I could have agreed with either way and now that the now famous ‘double decker’ diffusers have been found to be legal competition can begin again.

We haven’t heard anything from Mario Theissen other than that he says he can live with the decision and move forward from there. He feels that the rules have been made more clear and now it’s up to all teams without outperforming diffusers to quickly make any modifications they need to adapt.

“We will accept the decision of the International Court of Appeal,”
“This ruling means we now have clarity regarding the application of the regulations.

“However, it does not achieve the reduction in downforce and cornering speed intended by the Overtaking Working Group when the new regulations were drawn up,”
“At the same time, this decision means that seven teams will have to invest heavily in carrying out the necessary modifications to their cars.”

Take his statements however you wish.

Where did this decision come from is one question I have been thinking about since the date of the appeal was announced. Was it going to be purely on what the FIA intended the regulations to mean? Was it going to be to legitimize the shakeup in the order as we have seen? Would it be strictly to clarify the regulations as Mario Theissen has insisted is his only motivation for his protest. If the decision was to deem them legal would it be at least in part to send a strong message to Ferrari?

Would it be to clarify the regulations? Well in effect it has because they are legal, but we have to wait for the official detailed story behind the decision and that alone will make a statement, but not the real one in my mind.

How about the Ferrari issue. Before Luca di Montezemolo became head of FOTA, I would have said certainly not and would have bet the ruling would have deemed the diffusers illegal. That’s what has happened in the past. Ferrari want something and Ferrari get something, Ferrari don’t want something, Ferrari once again get what they want. Now that FOTA has become somewhat of a powerful voice after being united by Montezomolo, their voice has become much stronger, effectively eating into the comfortable place that the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone sit. No longer can they easily get what they want or simply fight one another while shoving the teams to the sidelines. Any self serving organization would consider Montezomolo as having jumped ship and exact some kind of punishment. Thus the decision to stand by the stewards decision and consider the diffusers legal punishes Ferrari who right now are a very disorganized bunch and far from introducing their version of an updated diffuser. You just have to read all the news coming off the wires to see just how furious Ferrari are about the decision and see just how much they feel they were wronged.

Whatever the reasons are and whatever you believe, I like the decision based on how the season is unfolding. Brawn GP with Jenson Button may just eek out a championship even as every other team grinds their fingers to the bone to produce their versions of the diffuser. That’s because the car is plain and simply fast. Now as we watch each and every race, the race to the front is heating up and what fun that is.