With all the discussion protests and snide remarks about the three teams using a controversial diffuser at the opening round of the 2009 Formula One season in Melbourne Australia over the weekend, Brawn GP driver Rubens Barrichello, who was driving one of the six alleged illegal cars, revealed that it didn’t add anything at all to his performance in Sunday evening’s race, because it was broken in his first lap collision!

“One thing we can say is that with the crash if people think that our car is only good because of the diffuser, well, that big hit from behind broke the diffuser completely,” he explained. “The car was very strong after that. It didn’t have a fantastic pace as the temperature dropped but it had a pace, so still a good car after all.”

Rubens dropped right back on the opening lap and then fought his way back through to finish second to his teammate, Jenson Button, who dominated the entire fifty eight lap race from start to finish.

Other teams have lodged an appeal against the three teams using the ‘illegal’ diffuser and it will be heard by the International Court of Appeal in the week leading up to the Chinese Grand Prix in April.