Court of Appeal rules: Mass damper use illegal.

The International Court of Appeal has ruled against the use of the 'mass damper' in the FIA Formula One World Championship.

The Court of Appeal met this week on Tuesday after the FIA appealed against the decision of its own stewards at the German Grand Prix on July 30.

The stewards at the Hockenheim event cleared Renault to run with the 'mass damper' fitted on the R26. However that went against what FIA technical delegate, Charlie Whiting had said and as such the FIA, the sports governing body, appealed against the decision, with the Court of Appeal ruling in their favour and apparently agreeing that it can be considered a 'moveable aerodynamic device'.

The statement put out by the FIA read:

"The FIA International Court of Appeal met in Paris on Tuesday, August 22, 2006, to examine the appeal made by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile against decision number eight handed down by the Stewards of the Meeting on July 28, 2006, concerning the T car of competitor Mild Seven Renault F1 on the occasion of the Grand Prix of Germany and counting towards the 2006 FIA Formula One World Championship.

"Having heard the explanations of both parties and having examined the various documents and other evidence, the Court quashed decision number 8 of the Stewards of the Meeting and ruled that use of the device known as a Tuned Mass Damper is an infringement of Article 3.15 of the Formula One Technical Regulations."

The ruling is bad news for Renault, who attended the hearing in order to put forward their side of the story, as the R26 was developed around the system, which helps to ensure the car stays 'glued' to the ground.

"The team will attend the hearing and will put forward a case. It is not appropriate to comment on the technicalities of that case at this moment. However, we have every faith in the International Court of Appeal. We believe it is an unbiased final judgement, and we will respect its decision," Renault engineering director, Pat Symonds said prior to the decision last week.

For the record, the International Court of Appeal was presided over by Mr Philippe Roberti de Winghe (Belgium), elected president, Mr Pierre Tourigny (Canada), Mr John Cassidy (United States) and Mr Anthony Scrivener (Great Britain).