The members of the Formula One Teams’ Association (FOTA) met on Wednesday to finalise their blueprint for the future of the sport ahead of the body’s first public press conference.
FOTA, the group established last July and which comprises all 10 teams, will outline the ways it wants to see Formula 1 move forwards over the forthcoming years.
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Calls to increase the revenues teams receive and ways of spicing up the sporting spectacle are set to form the cornerstones of its presentation.
The body’s senior figures – including Ross Brawn who is reportedly closing in on securing a management buyout of the former Honda team – finalised its proposals during a meeting at its headquarters in Switzerland, with the plans devised after analysing the results from a worldwide fan survey it commissioned.
A statement read as follows:
“These FOTA proposals are aimed at increasing the stability, sustainability, substance and spectacle of the sport, and have been informed by the findings of a FOTA-commissioned survey of Formula 1 audiences across 17 countries. These findings will be unveiled tomorrow.
‘Following its formation last September, FOTA created three working groups, whose remit has been to focus on the technical, sporting and commercial aspects of Formula 1 and recommend developments in each of those areas, in conjunction with the FIA and FOM (Bernie Ecclestone’s commercial rights company Formula One Management).”
Speaking ahead of the meeting, and explaining FOTA’s principles, Whitmarsh, who became team principal of McLaren on March 1, said: “Formula One is a work in progress.
“FOTA is a fantastic initiative. It’s the first time in the history of grand prix motor-racing all the teams have come to together.
“Inevitably in an organisation that contains all the teams that are highly combative on a Sunday and have a lot of history amongst them, it is quite challenging for those teams to work together.
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“But so far they’ve done a fantastic job, and Luca di Montezemolo has been a great chairman, with a lot of teams making a lot of compromises, but that is what’s necessary.
“If you look at a Formula One grid and you realise you have on one hand one of the world’s largest companies in Toyota, and then Toro Rosso on the other, and you are trying to balance their ambitions and desires for the future of the sport, it is quite a tall order.
“Understandably, we have been focused on cost-saving measures so far because not so long ago we were looking at engine-only deals in excess of 20 million euros (£17.8million), and many millions required to develop transmission systems.
“But come 2010 we will have a system whereby a customer team can obtain a full powertrain for 6.5million euros (£5.8million).
“That’s a big, big step forward for everyone, and shows the commitment of the automotive manufacturers who did not necessarily come into this sport to provide engines to more than their own team.”
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