Zoom Mosley not expecting a full roster by the deadline

The Formula One Teams Association is fighting against FIA President Max Mosley's sudden introduction of an optional €45m (US$60m) budget cap which would have granted abiding teams many technical freedoms not offered to those not opting for the controversial budget limitation.

The regulations would have therefore approved the appearance of a 'two-tier' system in F1, with cars built along different technical rules. The introduction sparked a new war on two major fronts between the existing teams and Mosley.

At a FOTA-FIA meeting late last week, the two-tier aspect was dropped but the question of the budget cap remains as both parties negotiate for an acceptable limit, with Mosley expecting team proposals for consideration this week.

Meanwhile, teams wishing to register their participation in the 2010 Formula One championship have until May 29th to file their entries with the FIA. However, with the deadline approaching and crucial talks ongoing between the team bosses and the sport's governing body, not only have some established teams mentioned they might boycott the date, but new teams might also be thinking about postponing their entries until things are cleared up in regards to the regulations.

The situation has already prompted Prodrive's David Richards to announce he is awaiting the outcome of the FOTA-FIA talks before presenting his application.

Entries submitted after the May 29 deadline will have to pay a late-filing fee, but they run the risk of discovering that the 13 available slots have already been taken.

"I think that we will probably get anywhere between three and six teams by the deadline," Mosley told Autosport. "After that they become a late entry and if there is a space they can take it, and if there isn't space they cannot."

Of the ten current teams, some are threatening to quit F1 entirely, while six or seven new teams are strongly considering entering the sport next year. The numbers obviously show that there simply won't be enough space for all candidates, which is a good reason for the existing teams to make up their minds very soon, Mosley stated.

"If teams don't enter the F1 World Championship, they are going to have to decide pretty quickly what they do - start their own series, race in some other series or pack it in," he said.

"There is a good chance that when people sit and think about it, common sense will prevail because what is wrong with everybody being limited by the same amount of money, and the performance being limited by the cleverness of the engineers? It is very appealing to a lot of people that; and it is fair," the FIA President added.

Of course, by simply extending the May 29 deadline, the FIA would not only give breathing room to the teams while negotiations continue, but the move would also avoid late-entry fees for the new teams waiting to see how the talks conclude.

The team chiefs reunited under the FOTA banner will meet with Mosley again in Monaco prior to this week-end's Grand Prix.

During the interview, Mosley also mentioned that he would be happy to sanction a breakaway series if the contesting teams wished to take that route.

"They could write their own rules and we would check them over for safety. And that would be it," he declared.

The Briton also suggested that the breakaway teams might again find Bernie Ecclestone on their path when they begin discussing with promoters for their new series.

Daniel BASTIEN
© CAPSIS International