By Phil Huff
March 15 2005

Rival team Toyota have taken a swipe at BAR Honda's exploitation of the engine change rule, suggesting that using the loophole goes against the spirit of the rules. Both Jenson Button and Takuma Sato retired from the opening race of the season last week, enabling the team to prepare fresh engines for the next race in Malaysia. In contrast, Toyota will be required to run their engines from Australia for a second race.

The regulations are clear, in that an engine must last for two race weekends, with any change incurring a 10 place penalty on the following race's grid. BAR Honda exploited a loophole that allows cars that failed to finish the race to have their engine changed.

"There has been a lot of controversy surrounding loopholes in the new engine rules," explained Luca Marmorini, Toyota's engine technical director, "but exploitation of such grey areas is against our understanding of racing.

"Even though our drivers did not score any points in the last race, we decided to pass the chequered flag out of respect for the new rules. We fully accept the spirit and intention of the 2005 engine regulation."

BAR have confirmed that they will be taking advantage of this opportunity in Malaysia, fitting a new engine to both cars.