Formula One was facing the biggest crisis in its history last night after the majority of the teams decided to begin preparations for an alternative championship.
On the eve of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, and in a move that could signal the end of the hegemony over motor sport’s pinnacle category by Bernie Ecclestone, the commercial rights-holder, and Max Mosley, the president of the FIA, the teams decided that they had no alternative but to set up their own series.
After meeting at the headquarters of the Renault team near Oxford, the Formula One Teams Association (Fota) said that it had genuinely sought a compromise solution in the row with the FIA over budget capping for next season, but made no progress.
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“The teams therefore have no alternative other than to commence the preparation for a new championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners,” Fota said in a statement.
The row over budget capping may be the immediate cause of the split, but there is no doubt that the rebellion by the teams also reflects their collective loss of patience with Mosley. Times Online
FOTA’s statement criticized the FIA’s “uncompromising” stance and attempts, along with the commercial rights holder Formula One Management, to divide its member teams.
As it stands, Williams and Force India will be the only current teams on the F1 starting grid next season while three new outfits—Campos Racing, Team US F1 and Manor F1 Team—are also due to enter.
FIA president Max Mosley was insistent on introducing a voluntary $60 million budget cap for teams to curtail a “financial arms race” in F1. Those that don’t agree to the cap would have more technical restrictions, something Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo had called “fundamentally unfair.”
Now F1 looks set to lose some of its biggest names, including championship leader Jenson Button of Brawn.
“The teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 world championship,” FOTA said after a meeting near Silverstone.
FOTA said its efforts to remain part of Mosley’s series had been hampered by the FIA’s approach to negotiations.
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“The FIA and the commercial rights holder have campaigned to divide FOTA,” the group said. “The wishes of the majority of the teams are ignored. Furthermore, tens of millions of dollars have been withheld from many teams by the commercial rights holder, going back as far as 2006.
“Despite this, and the uncompromising environment, FOTA has genuinely sought compromise.” ESPN Sport
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