Unfulfilled Breakaway Series Idea and FOTA-FIA War

[JoostLamers]

Pleeeeeease not Todt

why dude ? he's cool and will help Ferrari to win the next championships

That's why, stupido

[phil1993]

I'd go for Chandhok - he would maybe bring F1 further towards India, and he could get his son (i presume) into the FI and get Fisi out

[iceman1]

I'd go for Chandhok - he would maybe bring F1 further towards India, and he could get his son (i presume) into the FI and get Fisi out

Zack wants him also.

WE NEED RON

[phil1993]

Ron would also be good

[AzShadow]

Pleeeeeease not Todt

why dude ? he's cool and will help Ferrari to win the next championships

Reports say that he fell out with Montezemolo So I'm not sure if Todt has much love left for Ferrari.

[JoostLamers]

Pleeeeeease not Todt

why dude ? he's cool and will help Ferrari to win the next championships

Reports say that he fell out with Montezemolo So I'm not sure if Todt has much love left for Ferrari.

No doubt about that, he still loves Ferrari, I'm sure

[phil1993]

Reports say that he fell out with Montezemolo So I'm not sure if Todt has much love left for Ferrari.

Source please?

[Ali]

Gracia: Mosley could run for re-election
Carlos Gracia, the head of the Spanish motorsports federation, says he would not be surprised if Max Mosley put himself up for another term as FIA president, in the wake of claims made by the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) last week. Mosley has been left angry by comments from FOTA members that he was being sidelined from F1 completely as part of a peace deal reached last week, and that the teams' body would prefer an 'independent' president in the future.

Spoiler:

His unhappiness prompted a demand for apology from FOTA, which was not forthcoming, and has resulted in what Mosley claims is 'pressure' on him to stand once again.

Gracia said he fully understood Mosley's position, as he too expressed dissatisfaction about the comments made by FOTA chairman Luca di Montezemolo.

Speaking to Spanish radio station Onda Cero, Gracia said: "I don't support Max Mosley to the death, but I do support respecting institutions, and what Luca di Montezemolo has done was show a lack of respect to the FIA and the World Council.

"It wouldn't surprise me if Max Mosley runs for re-election. The worst thing you can do with an animal is leave him wounded, and what Luca di Montezemolo has achieved is to re-activate Max. You can't dance on someone's grave before he's dead."

Gracia expressed an interest in running for FIA president himself, but made it clear he would have qualms about going up against Mosley.

"I'm not ruling out running for president of the FIA," he said. "I believe Max Mosley has a lot of support and I would think twice before running against him, because I don't want to take any risks that may damage Spanish motorsport. Above all, I'm the president of the Spanish Federation and I have to defend Spanish sport."

AUTOSPORT understands FOTA is steering clear of getting involved in any fresh battle with Mosley over what was said last week, and is instead focusing on putting its 2010 rules in place over the next month.

No meeting of FOTA's senior figures is scheduled for this week, but behind-the-scenes negotiations are ongoing on terms of framing the new Concorde Agreement, that would bind the teams, the FIA and Formula 1's commercial rights holders together.

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http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/76621

[TwistedArmco]

Zack wants him also.

WE NEED RON

NOT RON. NOT TODT. Someone unbiased. What would Chandhok do? Give someone a penalty that gave Force India a single point?? :P

[swca92]

What about the guy FOTA said was now running the FIA last week (was his name Boeri?), I know nothing about him and is a senior member of the FIA, he'll do. We want a president who is impartial and hopefully will keep peace without bringing his grievences into public.

[Ali]

FIA: FOTA can't finalise rules by itself
The Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) has been told by the FIA that it cannot go it alone and finalise new regulations by itself unless it has the full support of non-member teams, AUTOSPORT has learned. With the eight FOTA outfits set to meet with Williams, Force India and the three new teams at the Nurburgring on Wednesday to begin discussing the plans for 2010, the FIA has made it clear that unanimous support will be required for next year's rules to change.

Spoiler:

In separate letters that FIA president Mosley has sent to teams, both inside and outside of FOTA, plus Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, it has been made clear that there must be approval from all competitors for the governing body to be able to adopt new regulations.

"As you are aware, Article 66 of the International Sporting Code states that no change can be made to the published regulations without the agreement of all confirmed entrants," wrote Mosley in one of the letters to the non FOTA member teams.

"As a result, changes to the 2010 regulations require your agreement and consent.

"I would therefore ask you engage as a matter of urgency with the FOTA teams to seek agreement and to formalise the above principals into suitable contracts and propose a draft set of FIA regulations that all teams are satisfied with.

"Should significant problems arise, I shall be glad to involve the FIA Senate, but I hope this will not be necessary.

"Once these arrangements have been finalised to your satisfaction, you will need to notify the FIA so that the regulations can be formally amended."

In a more recent letter to di Montezemolo, FOTA teams were advised that the approval of the rules by the five non-member teams was vital because they were the only entries that had been fully ratified for 2010.

FOTA teams have entered on the basis of an agreement reached with the FIA last month being put in place. With those rules not yet agreed, FOTA was advised its teams could theoretically only be 'observers' in the future discussions.

Article 66 of the International Sporting Code states that: "No amendments shall be made to the Supplementary Regulations after the beginning of the period for receiving entries, unless unanimous agreement is given by all competitors already entered, or by decision of the stewards of the meeting for reasons of force majeure or safety (see Article 141)."

Getting approval from the new teams for the scrapping of the budget cap rules may not be straightforward, though, with the teams having signed up to the championship when the £40 million limit was in place.

Manor Grand Prix boss John Booth told AUTOSPORT last month that the scrapping of the budget cap was not ideal for his team - although he felt it too early to judge what difference it would make to his plans.

"It makes it more difficult of course, but I think we can just about manage it," he said. "It just depends what the target is in two years time, what 1990s levels were. Honestly, it's almost impossible to comment."

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http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/76766

[swca92]

BREAKING NEWS-The 8 FOTA teams walk out of a meeting with the FIA (Source BBC, no full story yet).

[Ali]

FOTA teams walk out of FIA meeting

The Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) walked out of a technical meeting with the FIA about future rules on Wednesday, renewing doubts about the strength of the recent peace deal.

The FIA held one of its regular Technical Working Group meetings at the Nurburgring to make moves on finalising F1 rules, following agreement to scrap controversial budget cap regulations.

The meeting included representatives from all the current teams, plus new outfits US F1, Campos Meta and Manor Grand Prix.

Some progress was made in terms of agreeing to scrap the specific budget cap rules introduced on April 29.

However, the teams could not agree on a minimum weight limit for 2010, and there had also not been a sign-off of the legally binding agreement to reduce costs.

Of most interest, though, just a day after AUTOSPORT revealed that FOTA had been told that it could not finalise rules without agreement from non-member teams, the eight outfits involved in the organisation left the meeting when asked to provide input on further rule changes it hoped to see in place.

A statement from the FIA, detailing the meeting, said: "Following the decision of the World Council on 24 June to revert to the pre-29 April version of the 2010 F1 Sporting and Technical Regulations, the FIA today met the teams which have entered the 2010 Championship to seek their agreement to these changes.

"All changes have now been agreed subject only to the maintenance of the minimum weight at 620 kg and the signing of a legally binding agreement between all the teams competing in 2010 to reduce costs to the level of the early 1990s within two years, as promised by the FOTA representative in Paris on 24 June.

"The eight FOTA teams were invited to attend the meeting to discuss their further proposals for 2010. Unfortunately no discussion was possible because FOTA walked out of the meeting."

The decision by FOTA to walk out of the meeting has not yet been explained, but it has renewed fears that there is still major differences about its path for the future and the FIA's.

Mosley has already told FOTA that he is considering standing again as president in October in light of what he believes were deliberately misleading comments made to the media about a deal they reached last month to avert the threat of a breakaway.

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http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/76777

[Ali]

Where were we?

------

FOTA says FIA putting F1 in jeopardy

The Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) has accused the FIA of putting the future of the sport in jeopardy after talks to sort out rules collapsed on Wednesday.

At the end of a dramatic day at the Nurburgring, which resulted in FOTA members walking out of an FIA meeting after they were told they could have no input on regulatory discussions, the teams' organisation has gone on the attack against the governing body.

It is angry that, as AUTOSPORT revealed on Tuesday, the FIA believes the FOTA teams do not have full entries to next year's championship so cannot vote on rules.

The teams were officially informed of their 'observer' status on Wednesday, prompting frustration that left the teams with no choice but to leave the meeting.

A statement from FOTA said: "Representatives of all FOTA teams attended a meeting of the Sporting Working Group at the Nurburgring today.

"During the course of this meeting, the team managers were informed by Mr Charlie Whiting of the FIA that, contrary to previous agreements, the eight FOTA teams are not currently entered into the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship and have no voting rights in relation to the technical and sporting regulations thereof.

"It will be remembered that all eight active FOTA members were included on the "accepted" entry list as endorsed by the FIA World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) and communicated by FIA press statement on June 24.

"In light of these claims, the FOTA representatives requested a postponement of today's meetings. This was rejected on the grounds that no new Concorde Agreement would be permitted before a unanimous approval of the 2010 regulations was achieved."

The statement added: "It is clear to the FOTA teams that the basis of the 2010 technical and sporting regulations was already established in Paris.

"As endorsed by the WMSC and clearly stated in the FIA press statement of 24 June "the rules for 2010 onwards will be the 2009 regulations as well as further regulations agreed prior to 29 April 2009.

"At no point in the Paris discussions was any requirement for unanimous agreement on regulations change expressed. To subsequently go against the will of the WMSC and the detail of the Paris agreement puts the future of Formula 1 in jeopardy.

"As a result of these statements, the FOTA representatives at the subsequent Technical Working Group were not able to exercise their rights and therefore had no option other than to terminate their participation."

The standoff between FOTA and the FIA is in stark contrast to the cooperation pact that appeared to have been struck last month prior to the most recent FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting.

There, FIA president Max Mosley, FOTA chairman Luca di Montezemolo and Bernie Ecclestone agreed a deal that headed off the threat of a breakaway.

Since then, however, Mosley has reconsidered his decision to step down from his role in October because of what he believes were misleading claims made by FOTA to the media.

Today's breakdown in talks leaves the future path for the sport unclear, with the prospect of a breakaway now re-emerging.

Sources suggest that F1 owners CVC are furious with the latest development, which has cast a cloud over the future of the sport just a few weeks after peace had broken out.

FOTA is adamant that the collapse in the discussions can be pinned firmly on the FIA.

Its statement said: "The FOTA members undertook the Paris agreement and the subsequent discussions in good faith and with a desire to engage with all new and existing teams on the future of Formula One."

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http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/76778

[AzShadow]

It's all a joke. Just do the breakaway or don't. We don't want to see months of press releases pondering whether or not the teams are going to enter F1 in 2010.