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

The International Automobile Federation (FIA)'s court of appeal also cleared Toyota and Williams, whose cars use similar 'double-decker' or '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 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.

Its good to see someone different winning for a change.