All quiet from FOTA after key meeting

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The F1 teams’ association met in London today but the press release issued afterwards offered little indication how the talks had gone:

The FOTA Executive Committee met today in Heathrow to examine the new regulations proposed by the FIA for the 2010 F1 Championship and to evaluate the progress of the negotiations with the Commercial Rights Holder for the renewal of the Concorde Agreement.

FOTA held a positive and constructive meeting and agreed to continue working together in a methodical manner for the definition of further cost-reduction in 2010 and 2011, progressing along the path begun in 2008.

FOTA has concerns with the decisions taken at the last WMSC meeting regarding the 2010 regulations and therefore asks to begin urgent consultations with the FIA.

Under the circumstances, with Max Mosley mourning the death of his son Alexander yesterday, they may have wisely decided that now is not the time to be playing politics.

However this has been considered an especially crucial meeting for FOTA as it decides on its reaction to the budget cap proposal for 2010. While Ferrari has condemned the plans, and is supported by several of the teams, others are in favour of a budget cap. How will it react to this threat to its unity?

Read more: FIA aims to get all teams to cap budgets using one-sided regulations

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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12 comments on “All quiet from FOTA after key meeting”

  1. Thanks for the update- I was wondering if anything major would be announced or decided at this meeting. All credit to the teams for not pushing anything during a difficult time for Mosley, but hopefully we will see some progress on key issues that were discussed today at a later date.

  2. I can understand the need for Fota to heed the fact that Mosley has just lost his son, but max Mosley is one one part of the FIA and, not to sound callous in any way, but Formula One is bigger than this . FOTA need to be getting on with a fight against the FIA. There is too much at stake to wait around. If the tables were turned I’m sure Mosley would not hesitate in pushing his agenda.
    Apparently there is not a lot of time before the teams are supposed to sign the new concorde agreement, which would mean FOTA would lose a lot of it’s bargaining power.

    1. You are correct, but I am sure you can see that it is a good PR move for the teams not to embark on an explosive anti-FIA campaign in the wake of a tragic event for the group’s president. For one, I am sure Max and his family are not focused on motorsports at the moment, so the messages would probably not get to him anyway. Second, I am sure that the team staffers involved diden’t just sit around and shoot pool all day- specific items of concern were surely discussed and evaluated, and I am sure we will hear/see more about those topics in the very near future.

    2. hitchcockm00
      6th May 2009, 22:08

      not to sound callous in any way, but Formula One is bigger than this

      To be honest, that does sound incredibly callous.
      There isn’t much bigger than the loss of a child. Formula One will come very low on Mosley’s list of priorities today and FOTA were right to respect that.

  3. Bigbadderboom
    6th May 2009, 22:10

    Not a time for Max to be worried or concerned with F1, so sorry for your loss max.

  4. Technically, Scunnyman is right, the FIA shouldn’t be about one individual. Sad as this may be, the FIA cant stop working.

  5. Accidentalmick
    7th May 2009, 9:54

    iagree with scunnyman and oliver. I have lost a son – the nicest person I have ever met and after three years it still hurts like hell.

    But the world goes on around me and acting like this is acknowlegeing that the FIA consists of only one person who matters. FOTA should be pushing the FIA.

  6. I just say – the constructors – big European companies like BMW, Mercedes, Renault, Ferrari and Japanese Toyota, along with the other F1 teams Williams, Red Bulls (x2), Force India and Brown MUST grab their share of power about what to do to Formula One.

    If this if left to FIA – that is more, every day that passes, a man – an arrogant and not very intelligent man without the necessary knowledge to dictate some changes, and we all see, even with help from technical advisers, the rules are very much flawed… There are more holes in those technical rules than in a Swiss cheese… And it’s not the ‘other’ set of rules (medals, front wings like tractors and slicks all the same size – to mention just a few) that the holes are going to be covered…

    I don’t care if the time is not good to Mr. Mosley… We are not talking about them – we are talking about an institution that MUST be open for business everyday 24 hours a day! If not… it loses its importance and no longer will dictate anything more to the sport and (I hope) something new will be created, using the motor national clubs, but not like this, were the Madagascar Auto Club has the same importance as do the English one… That is ridiculous and it’s because of that one club one vote bullshit that we have this man ruining the future of our beloved sport.

    This must end. FOTA has the strength to make it so, even against FOM and old man Bernie. If the teams threaten the leave, what will FIA rule? GP2? A1GP? Not! And the tons of money FOM makes on account of Formula One racing teams and don’t share the way it should? Will they be around the be the commercial and organize the GP2 and A1GP championships? Can they even make a buck with that? I think NOT!

    So the big racing teams, even if they have to go against Brown or some other, MUST stand up and SHOUT!

    They must show who’s really is the BOSS in FORMULA ONE to Mosley and Bernie, the saddest comic/powerful duo ever…

  7. The loss of a child is the nightmare of every parent. We wake in the early hours with our dreadful fears. We grieve for the Mosleys but F1 is bigger than any one individual. There are many other children involved in F1 whose fathers are the bright engineers who build those wondrous chariots but who would find themselves abruptly severed from their dream if Mosley has his way. If new teams join F1 it should be organised at a rate that enables existing teams to shed engineers toward them but do the FIA takes that into account? How indeed has a major international organisation become the plaything of one individual and why is the greed of the commercial rights owner so all important to the FIA?

  8. Come on FOTA! Use your website and talk more to the hundreds of millions of F1 fans…

  9. 8 teams out from 10 stay together and they will get meating with FIA before next race….so we will see soon if we still have Mosley Fia and F1 race in next year or will wehave new F1 races and no Bernie and no Mosley

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