The battle between Ferrari and Mercedes for both the Formula 1 Drivers' Championship and the Formula 1 Constructors' title looked set to be one that was going to go right the way down to the last race of the season, before Sebastian Vettel decided to sabotage his own championship hopes with a series of errors, effectively costing him the title.

Well, while the season is all but done and dusted with three races left to go, there are still plenty of other exciting talking points which have piqued the interests of the more hardcore F1 fans, who are just as much interested in the car design aspect of motorsport as the racing itself.

There have been plenty of debates and controversy over certain car design aspects from specific Formula 1 teams over the years, as they aim to innovate the sport and get themselves ahead of their rivals with new and exciting ideas.

This tends to lead to some of the other teams not being too happy that they have been outwitted by a rival, which then leads to a complaint to FIA and an investigation into whether it is actually illegal and breaking the rules or not.

Well, the latest technology controversy to hit Formula One is the new wheel rim design which Mercedes took to Austin for the US Grand Prix at the weekend, which did not go down too well with Ferrari.

Mercedes designed their new wheel rims with a number of holes in them, which Ferrari felt was giving them an unfair aerodynamic advantage and was breaking the rule regarding it being a moveable aerodynamic device.

The FIA initially gave Mercedes the go ahead to use the new wheel rims, but the team chose not to since Ferrari could still lodge a post-race complaint, which would take away from the celebrations of winning the world title, which did not happen in the end anyway.

It has been claimed that these new wheel rims developed by Mercedes resemble the famous blown axle design which was brought in by Red Bull and consequently banned back in 2012, as it was claimed that the design was a moveable aerodynamic device.

It is because of this that Ferrari feel that they have such a strong case for the new Mercedes wheel rims to be banned, although Mercedes themselves believe that they have made changes that allow them to use it.

Lewis Hamilton to post the fastest lap at Mexican GP (11/4)*

Mercedes claim that the primary effect of their new wheel rims is to lower the temperature of the rear tyres and not that of an aerodynamic effect, which is why they believe it is perfectly legal.

It will certainly be interesting to see which way this one goes.

There are some who believe that Ferrari will get their way, as usual, while others feel that Mercedes could get yet another step up on their closest rivals.

We will watch this one with great interest.

*Odds subject to change, 18+, www.begambleaware.org