Formula One racing stands today either on the cusp of agreement or the edge of disaster for the 2010 season. June 12 is the deadline for for the FIA to release the names of the teams competing for the 2010 season, and at this point the FOTA (Formula One Teams Association) and the FIA do not have their negotiations completed. The two sides have been disputing new rules for the 2010 season that would impose a “two-tiered’ budget system on the sport. FOTA had until recently included all 10 grid teams, but Williams and Force India both broke ranks with the teams and they are now both excluded from FOTA after submitting unconditional entries to the FIA through 2012.
The FIA will be releasing the names of the 13 teams that will compete in the 2010 Formula One season on Friday June 12, and at this point it is anyone’s guess whose names will be on that list. There are mixed signals coming from both sides, some positive, some negative, but all extremely cautious, given the millions and millions of dollars involved. The FIA statement hinted at glimmers of hope, “The FIA has received a letter and various attachments from FOTA, the contents of which are not entirely negative, and we are currently examining the details.”
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But earlier in the week, FIA President Max Mosley laid down a hard line when he suggested that the teams “...were free to quit the championship”. Max and Formula One “Supremo” Bernie Ecclestone seem bound and determined to maintain an iron grip over the sport which seems to descend further and further into political chaos with every passing year. Bernie even issued a warning that the rebellious FOTA teams could be costing themselves, “hundreds of millions of pounds” In other words if the FOTA teams decide to leave F1 and start a rival series, massive and expensive lawsuits will be the result. Examiner.com
Formula One’s governing body met teams on Thursday to try and reach an 11th hour deal before publication of a 2010 entry list that could secure a stable future for the sport or split it in two.
An FIA spokesman declined to comment on the meeting, which lasted more than four hours, with the Ferrari-led Formula One Teams Association.
Mosley, who wants to bring in new teams to help the sport overcome the credit crunch and the possible departure of some of the manufacturers, has said that is not possible in the time-frame.
The 2010 rules have put forward an optional £40 million budget cap, with those accepting it given greater technical freedom.
Some sources have suggested a compromise could be for the FIA to leave some of the slots empty, pending further talks and subject to a late payment fee.
“If 10 (non-FOTA) teams are given an entry, there’s a major problem,” said Brawn owner Ross Brawn.
“So I hope, even if it’s a holding position until we can sort this out, that there’s a solution.” Yahoo! Eurosport
Ferrari driver Felipe Massa called the entire standoff “ridiculous.”
“It’s a nightmare what’s happening with this fight. We wanted to know as drivers and we wanted to give our opinion,” the Brazilian said.
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso of Renault firmly backed his team’s unwillingness to commit to the new rules, a position widely shared among F1’s drivers.
“I prefer any other category to the new F1,” the Spaniard said. “A similar model to (feeder series) GP2 or Formula Three is not interesting for any pilot, any sponsor, circuit or TV. In this case, it would be a totally senseless category.” Auto Racing Daily
The standoff, which is also about the governance of the sport and distribution of revenues, has been going on for weeks with Mosley last meeting the teams during the Monaco Grand Prix in May.
The Briton wrote to Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, who also chairs FOTA, after that meeting however to offer a number of compromises.
In the May 26 letter, seen by Reuters, he said there must be a budget cap but it could be as high as 100 million euros in 2010 before going down to 45 million in 2011.
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“We can agree that all teams race under the same 2010 rules,” he added. “These would be as published, but with the technical and sporting advantages originally offered to cost-cap teams deleted.”
To help new teams, the transfer of know-how from existing teams would be facilitated in 2010 and possibly 2011. One employee, as well as the drivers, would remain outside any budget cap from 2011.
That measure would help teams who have highly-paid designers, such as Red Bull’s Adrian Newey.
Mosley said the FIA was also prepared to negotiate a new Concorde Agreement along the lines of a draft sent by the teams, and would be happy to call the cost cap “financial regulations” if that was more palatable. Guardian.co.uk
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