Stick-in-the-muds worked themselves into a lather over Formula One’s planned reforms—proof, if nothing else, that even in the fast lane, tradition can still be a drag.
And finally, in a stark display of the power that F1 teams wield, they got the sport’s bosses to back off.
The score: teams 1, bosses 0. It’s a result that could bode ill for those—led by Max Mosley, head of F1’s governing body—who want shock therapy to wean the sport off its high-spending habits so that it survives the global credit crunch.
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Mosley’s governing body, the FIA, said Friday it would freeze plans to shake up how F1’s championship winner is chosen, retreating in the face of a chorus of disapproval and even hints of a boycott from teams and drivers.
The FIA said it would merely defer the planned rule-change until 2010. But after losing such face in this, the latest battle over F1’s future, the feasibility of resurrecting the reform next year seems far from certain.
The announcement came just hours after the Formula One Teams Association had questioned the validity of the proposals which would replace the long-established system of the champion being the driver with the most points.
“On March 17, the FIA World Motor Sport Council unanimously rejected FOTA’s proposed amendment to the points system for the formula one drivers’ championship,” said an FIA statement.
“The ‘winner-takes-all’ proposal made by the commercial rights-holder was then approved.
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“If, for any reason, the formula one teams do not now agree with the new system, its implementation will be deferred until 2010.”
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