Formula One: Ross Brawn looked forward to what could be a winning weekend debut for his new Formula One team after Australian Grand Prix stewards threw out an attempt to have his car declared illegal.
After six hours of deliberation, the stewards rejected protests by champions Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault that the aerodynamic rear diffusers on the Brawn, Toyota and Williams cars broke the rules.
Speaking today in a near-deserted paddock, the Briton hoped a line could be drawn under a controversy that has overshadowed Sunday's season-opener.
"We'll do our best this weekend, I don't know exactly where we will be but its nice to get it (the protests) out of the way because it has been a fairly big distraction over the last 24 hours since we arrived in Melbourne," he said.
"It has been a little bit of an awkward period but hopefully we can now focus on getting the best out of the car for the next few days."
Brawn, who have emerged Phoenix-like from the ashes of the former Honda team after winning an 11th hour battle for survival, have become the favourites to win on their debut in Australia after sensational times in pre-season testing this month.
Although Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault have appealed against the stewards' decision, with a court expected to issue a final ruling next month, Brawn felt the technical arguments were clear.
"We don't feel there's an issue of interpretation, we feel the interpretation is fairly straightforward but of course we are not about to explain to our competitors what interpretation we've taken," he said.
"They have to work it out for themselves."
Brawn hoped the results of races up to the appeal hearing would be upheld.
"It would seem a shame if we have been told by the stewards that our car is legal, and it then goes to appeal and that gets overturned and it affects the races which have already happened," he said.
"We are racing with goodwill, good intent, and under direction from the stewards that they are happy with our car."
Brawn, a former Honda team boss and ex-Ferrari technical director, said his team would have found a way to race on Sunday even if the stewards had ruled against them and ordered modifications.
"The guys would have been out there with the bucket of fibreglass, and all sorts of things," he said.
"It wouldn't have been pretty but we would have found a way to race."
Brawn denied that his team, without any major sponsors following Honda's decision to pull out in December, would have faced serious problems if the decision had gone against them.
"It would just have been another challenge, and we've had plenty of those over the past few months," he said. "So no, it wouldn't have been curtains."