Eurosport - Wed, 15 Apr 11:00:00 2009

Formula One championship leader Jenson Button's title hopes received a significant boost when a Paris appeal court ruled the Briton's controversial Brawn GP car was legal.

The International Automobile Federation's court of appeal also cleared Toyota and Williams, whose cars use similar 'split-level' rear diffusers and which rivals had claimed broke the spirit of the rules.

Button won the first two races of the season in Australia and Malaysia after overcoming protests from struggling champions Ferrari, Renault, Red Bull and BMW-Sauber.

The four teams had then appealed against the stewards' decisions.

The FIA said in a statement that the court, which met in Paris for an all-day session on Tuesday, had decided "to deny the appeals submitted".

"Based on the arguments heard and evidence before it, the Court has concluded that the Stewards were correct to find that the cars in question comply with the applicable regulations," the statement added.

It said full reasons would be provided later.

Button and Brazilian team mate Rubens Barrichello will now be favourites to complete a hat-trick of Brawn victories at this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, the third round of the season.

Had the verdict gone against the three teams, Button could have been stripped of his wins with the championship thrown into turmoil.

Instead, rival teams will now be racing to catch up with radical redesigns of their own cars.

"We are pleased with the decision reached by the International Court of Appeal," Brawn GP team principal Ross Brawn said. "We respect the right of our competition to query any design or concept used on our cars through the channels available to them.

"The FIA technical department, the Stewards at the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix and now five judges at the International Court of Appeal have confirmed our belief that our cars have always strictly compiled with the 2009 Technical Regulations.

"The decision of the International Court of Appeal brings this matter to its conclusion."

Reuters