Reactions roll in following Thursday's late-night announcement by
Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) that eight of 10 current Formula
One teams will form a racing series in 2010 separate from the F1
currently governed by the International Automobile Federation (FIA).
The FIA anounced it will sue lead defector Ferrari and the team owners'
group.
The FIA announced publication of a 2010 entry list will be delayed. A
week ago, the FIA had 13 teams listed; now it's five.
A second F1 aspirant, MSC Organization Ltd. withdrew its entry from the
FIA. The team that sought to field cars as Team N. Technology followed
Lola in announcing it will give a miss to the FIA's parade.
Crux of the matter is how to go about lowering expenses in the world's
costliest annually staged sporting event. FIA president Max Mosley
sought to impose an optional budget cap for 2010 of first 30 million
pounds then 40 million pounds to attract new teams. Teams choosing the
cap would be allowed greater technical freedoms.
FOTA, which included all 10 current teams but slimmed to eight teams
when Williams F1 and Force India chose to honor existing contracts with
the FIA, cried foul about the sudden reduction, the rules advantages
low-spenders would gain, and their lack of input into rules changes.
They met they 2010 entry deadline on condition that the FIA would
change the optional budget limit and produce a new Concorde Agreement,
a document that lets all paricipants have a say in F1 governance. The
previous pact expired at the end of 2007.
"The FIA's lawyers have now examined the FOTA (Formula One Teams
Association) threat to begin a breakaway series," read an FIA statement
issued at Silverstone, site of this weekend's British Grand Prix.
"The actions of FOTA as a whole, and Ferrari in particular, amount
to serious violations of law including willful interference with
contractual relations, direct breaches of Ferrari's legal obligations,
and a grave violation of competition law.
"The FIA will be issuing legal proceedings without delay."
Ferrari, whose president Luca di Montezemolo is chairman of FOTA,
has been particularly vocal in objecting to FIA 2010 rules. Ferrari
and Dieter Mateschitz's teams Red Bull and Toro Rosso contracted to
participate in F1 through 2012, which is the basis of Mosley's action.
The FIA put Ferrari and the Red Bull teams on next year's entry list
published a week ago and told Toyota, Renault, McLaren Mercedes, Brawn
GP and BMW Sauber they were subject to being dropped unless they gave
up their conditions. Ferrari and the Red Bull teams reacted quickly
to insist they retained a conditional approach to participation, that
condition being that Mosley change the rules. Mosley sought to persuade
all teams to sign on unconditionally before rules amendments would
progress.
Ferrari would not respond to news of the FIA suit but reiterated that on
Monday the scuderia "instigated arbitration against the FIA to protect
its contractual rights in its dealings with the Federation, including
those relative to the respecting of procedures as regards the adoption
of regulations and the right to veto." Ferrari's contract with the FIA
stipulated input to rules-making.
Mosley had targeted fielding 13 teams in the world's premier motorsport
series next season. The FIA received 15 applications, vetted 12 teams,
interviewed representatives of nine and chose three: Campos, Manor and
Team USF1.
Mosley has said the FIA could field a series without FOTA defectors. He
expressed confidence Friday that a compromise would be reached and one
series, including Ferrari, will prevail.
"Always for these things in the end there's a compromise," Mosley told
BBC Radio. "We will be reluctant to have an F1 without them, the eight."
Then he reiterated his contention that as many as three carmaker teams
could yet drop the sport in the face of global recession.
