Peace in F1: the first details

Peace in F1

June 24, 2009 10:30 PM
Filed Under: F1

The first details of the peace deal between rebel FOTA teams and the FIA are beginning to emerge.

Max Mosley, now to step down as FIA president in October, announced after Wednesday's World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris that a cost reductions package had paved the way to a compromise deal between the warring sides.

But it is also believed that Michel Boeri, currently president of the FIA senate and head of the Monaco automobile club, will immediately begin to handle all relations between the sport's governing body and the teams.

It seems that Mosley's planned budget cap, meanwhile, has been completely scrapped, although the kinds of other cost reductions agreed by FOTA should lead to radically smaller budgets by 2011.

However, Mosley appears to have backed down on all fronts.

He had been pushing for the executive boards of the manufacturers involved in F1 to commit to the sport in writing through 2014. Instead, all the teams will simply sign a new Concorde Agreement, but valid only to the end of 2012.

The published 2010 regulations are to be completely torn up, replaced - as per FOTA's wish - with this year's rules but modified for the cost-cutting measures agreed on Wednesday.

The World Motor Sport Council was the culmination of an intense amount of pressure: not only about the viability of Mosley's ongoing tenure, but also the looming breakaway.

FOTA had this week appointed a PR company to inform a wider media audience about the plans, and was preparing to push forward with a meeting to discuss preparations - including inking initial contracts - on Thursday in Bologna.

Lawyers for F1's commercial equity owners CVC, meanwhile, had travelled to Silverstone last weekend and apparently pushed the warring sides very hard - particularly Mosley as the regulator - to broker a solution.

Wednesday's developments are likely to be immediately formalised with FIA and FOTA press statements, and the publication of a final 2010 entry list.

"This for me is an enormous relief," Mosley said in a hastily convened press conference in Paris, also referring to "personal difficulties" he has faced.

 

Source: GMM

Comments

Shiparch
June 24, 2009 11:50 PM
No lower prices and no listening to the fans, the FOTA press release was just a bargaining chip. The loser here is not Max Mosley but us fans.

j-chrome
June 24, 2009 11:50 PM
Yea, Mosley is having "personal difficulties". I wonder if those difficulties have anything to do with the fact that he's 80 years old and gets spanked by prostitutes dressed up as Nazi's...

chris25
June 25, 2009 12:10 AM
This is Bull!! I was looking forward for the break away series but is so dumb & boring excuse ever heard.

Viking79
June 25, 2009 1:02 AM
So I guess no Indianapolis, Montreal, and Silverstone next year after all....

Renegade
June 25, 2009 2:43 PM
Nope, Beijing, Bahrein and Istambol give Ecclestone tons of money to have there own GP.

ayoub
June 25, 2009 3:13 AM
good news woooooooooooooow ;) was about time

Airbag
June 25, 2009 6:45 AM
They'd better find a North American race.

Renegade
June 25, 2009 2:40 PM
Hmmm, I wanted carnage and wanted the head of Bernie Ecclestone.

Cootje
June 25, 2009 4:44 PM
Now only get rid off Ecklestone and we will have a sport that matters about fans and not money.

mc959
June 25, 2009 5:37 PM
to be continued in 2012...

mickey_f1
June 26, 2009 8:41 AM
I agree that only the fans are losing from this story. Who would trust FOTA from now on?!

View Comment Rules

Add Comment

You are modifying your comment

Exisiting User

Username
Password
remember me

New Users

Username
Email
Password
Comment

Your account

username
password

Other links