1. FIA says FOTA can't go alone and finalize new regulations without the full support of non-member teams. 2. FIA makes it clear that UNANIMOUS support will be required for next year's rules to change. 3. Max sends a different letter to the three teams? Wouldn't the teams already be aware of the rules of the game they plan to play. Why does Max have to emphasize it to the new teams "in one of the letters to the non-FOTA teams"?? ("One of the letters?? wonder what the others stipulate?) Three new teams may screw up the works since they entered with the budget cap. 4. FOTA was advised its teams could theoretically only be 'observers' in the future discussions. 5. Something here smells fishy. Carol * * * * * autosport article: 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. 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."
It's all a big sham. FOTA should have just bailed on F1/FIA unless Mosley was immediately fired. Mosley is trying to cling on to power.... firstly, he has Manor in his pocket. His lackeys were out there brokering investment deals in Manor before they were even accepted on the grid, and Mosleys daughter is married into the team ownership, and Mosley is a recent biz partner with one of the owners. Etc, etc, etc. BS... all just BS. Mosley will try to divide and conquer. I have zero doubt his hopes are that he will play games with FOTA and hide behind the contrived "sporting code", all the while having at least one or two of the new teams in his pocket. Then he will precipitate some argument that will 'divide FOTA', then he will try to run again for president. In the meantime, by dragging out the process, he can stymie any chance FOTA would have for setting up an alternate series by keeping them active in F1 and keeping them believing they will have a place these in '10. Really, FOTA just needs to leave F1. The BSing and the politicking are still going on. I really hope Luca and FOTA were smart enough to have some iron-clad stuff going on.
FOTA should now go it alone!.......If LDM/Ferrari/FOTA have the goods?....now is the time. With Bernie's latest comments attracting all sorts of real positive reactions for F1, along with Max's neverending drama creating even more negativity for the sport, they would be in the best position now to make their move.......
sounds a big like Max suckered FOTA away from the breakaway especially when this took place - AFTER THE WORLD MOTOR SPORT COUNCIL MEETING IN LATE JUNE, WHEN PEACE WITH THE FORMULA ONE TEAMS' ASSOCIATION WAS DECLARED, THE FIA SAID THE 'RULES FOR 2010 ONWARDS WILL BE THE 2009 REGULATIONS". and now it appears they are stuck.......way to go Max. I hope Mike is correct with his thoughts. Carol short version from F1 live this morning Max Mosley has reminded Formula One teams that next year's budget cap rules can only be overturned if they unanimously agree. After the World Motor Sport Council meeting late in June, when peace with the Formula One Teams' Association was declared, the FIA said the ‘rules for 2010 onwards will be the 2009 regulations’. However, shortly afterwards FIA President Mosley said in an interview that amending the published regulations actually depended on FOTA striking ‘an agreement with the Williams and Force India teams and the three new teams’. The 69-year-old Briton has now clarified this point in writing, suggesting that the five teams outside the alliance can actually block the scrapping of the budget cap due to Article 66 of the International Sporting Code. Mosley said "no change can be made to the published regulations without the agreement of all confirmed entrants." In theory, this could be a major problem for FOTA, given not only that the five non-FOTA teams signed up for the budget cap, but that some of the new entrants may be unable to join the 2010 grid without the radical cost reductions. We reported on Tuesday that all thirteen 2010 teams will meet for technical discussions at the Nurburgring on Wednesday.
The only hope is that Ari Vatanen can get the FIA job, the more I read on this guy the better it gets. He has youth on his side and has no real biased because he has not had alot of involvement in F1, Mosley is clutching at straws! if this carry's on F1 will be doomed ..time will tell. His first real test will be to persuade PornoMax his time would be better spent role playing in a Chelsea flat.
Especially when they all take the grid next season running Cosworth engines and have Mad Max's picture on the side of them.
All 8 FOTA teams should go to Germany this weekend, run 1 lap and retire. There will be a mob calling for MM's head before nightfall. They can retire in current Championship order so no advantage is gained.
A demonstration of unity and an expression of power would be a good thing but what you suggest might alienate the uninformed fan base.
Dave it can't be any worse the average F1 has been shat on for many years, I reckon as of now many are giving it up as a bad job. Fans want to see the stars of the show, the drivers Vettel Button Hamilton Alonso Kimi Massa and ok Webber ..gotta keep the Aussies happy..and watch them duke it out in the best and fastest machines, all were getting and seeing is two senile basturds slowly losing the plot. SOS help!! calling Thunderbirds ..International rescue
No doubt the fans will be mad the danger is that opinion will turn on FOTA. And (prepare yourself Steve) make Max and the FIA look sympathetic.
Well any fan with a brain cell in there head 1 would do, would realize that: 1.Mosley is making it clear he drag down F1 with him, if he doesnt get his way. 2. Bernie is away with the fairys and tying himself in knots. 3. F1 is a sinking ship at the min with a big hole in it. 4.So unless someone starts behaving in a smarter manner than they have of late and starts doing it very quickly indeed the whole thing is going to sink without trace.
I agree. But you have more faith that the average fan has a good idea about what's going on than I do. FOTA needs to educate the fan base and not alienate them.
True enough, In a sense the average fan only cares about the racing they don't give a rats ass about the politics, which is a shame, but I do think now as more and more info and back room dealings come out it is now showing F1 in the true corrupt nature it has been run. Even tonight going into Manchester free paper I picked up on the tram, slamming Bernie and his Hilter remarks, it is in every paper, the average fan over here does know, it this sort of crap that gets in the papers.
Bernie's version of "Springtime For Hitler" they know. But Bernie, to the main stream fan, is not an obvious player in the FIA/FOTA wars.
Well I'm not sure, personally I would have given Bernie the time of day, but if he maintains his support of Mosley which now I realize he is the one that has kept him in the job, I have lost all what little respect I had for him. Why he is letting this happen is beyond me, the tomb stones on these guys will make for some good reading. What was agreed in Paris? And if nothing was actually agreed why did FOTA agree to it and why did the World Council bother to endorse anything...
Sometimes we forget the roots of some of the F1 Elite. Bernie hasn't strayed as far from the 1950's used car lot as he'd like to think. When the good times rolled and the money kept rolling in Bernie's tactics were winked at. Now that money is tight the MBAs running the finances for the big manufacturer teams aren't willing to wink. Bernie has become a fossil.
It would have to be done in such a way as to make it look like FIA/FOM is the bad guy. Not that hard to do given the climate. Lawyers, press conferances, the whole shot. Seems like half the grid is German. If the drivers could come out and point the finger at Max/Bernie the angst would flow in their direction fueling public support. At this stage FOTA needs a central entity to organize and control not only the FIA/FOM but the public, sponsors, and the media as well. Public and media support is mostly already there. Tracks are there. TV money is there. A governing organization in the ACO is there. The Manufacturers are there. Sponsors dont care as long as the public and TV are there. The Fans could care less if the FIA, ACO, or the Ringling Brothers provide the ticket takers. The Tent is there. The Entertainers are there. I remember it said while touring Versailles that half the French taxes before the revolution were used by the royals to build and maintain their lifestyle. Todays FIA/FOM revenues/expenses are exactly the same. This is not the time to put the pitch forks and torches down to have lunch. This is the time to oust the Royal Family and their cronies. VIVA LA REVOLUTION !
