Teams vote to keep Friday test restrictions.

Against expectation, the latest meeting of Formula One team bosses has come out in favour of keeping the controversial ruling that prevents experienced drivers filling Friday morning test roles at each grand prix next season.

With bottom six team bosses Tony Purnell, Paul Stoddart and Peter Sauber having come out in opposition to the ruling, which was introduced by the FIA at the end of last season and mitigated against the likes of Allan McNish and Justin Wilson, it had been hoped that the restriction would be overturned, but that was not the case.

Instead, the meeting broke up with a decision to keep the rules as they were introduced, with the top four teams from 2003 prevented from fielding a third car during Friday's free practice sessions, but the other six having to run a driver with less than six grands prix experience over the past two years.

This means that Wilson, who ran the full 2003 season for Jaguar and Minardi - and was wanted by both for testing in 2004 - and McNish, who contested the 2002 campaign with Toyota, cannot be employed in a third car during F1 meetings.

"The rule wasn't changed, and it's rather disappointing," Jaguar boss Purnell admitted to Reuters, "I can't see that the sport benefits from locking out drivers of Justin's ability, but that's the way it is."

Sauber, who earlier this week branded the rule as 'a joke', claimed that F1 powerhouses Williams and McLaren were the dissenters preventing the required unanimous vote to change.