BAR's insistence to continue telling all and sundry that it is innocent of cheating and that the FIA has acted unfairly, could cause further problems for the Brackley team.

A statement issued by the FIA on Monday afternoon (May 9) read:

"The FIA has noted the statement issued today in the name of BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Honda, Renault and Toyota. Its reference to "events of the past week" is understood to concern penalties imposed on BAR Honda for a particularly reprehensible breach of the rules.

The FIA will continue rigorously to enforce the rules of Formula One. It will also continue to allow competitors access to a Court of Appeal whose standing and independence has repeatedly been recognised by the civil courts, most recently (March 2005) by the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris.

No manufacturer, however large, will be allowed a concealed or unfair advantage. Those unable or unwilling to accept this have no place in Formula One. They should also understand that any sport is likely to impose further sanctions on a competitor which attacks the integrity of the governing body when caught breaking the rules.

Statements attributed to the management of BAR Honda are currently under investigation in the light of the team’s obligation to do nothing “prejudicial to the image and dignity of Formula One racing” or “prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally”.

The manufacturers concerned came into Formula One for their own reasons. They were not invited - they invited themselves. Each of them accepted the rules and structures of the sport as they had done on many previous occasions."