Briatore demands resolution

Renault boss Flavio Briatore heads into today’s crucial meeting with FIA president Max Mosley insisting a solution to the current Formula One crisis must be found “at all costs”.

The sport stands at a crossroads, with Ferrari, Renault, Toyota, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso all threatening to withdraw at the end of this season unless fundamental revisions are made to the new regulations.

Central to the argument is the optional £40m (€44.75m) budget cap to be imposed for next year that will create a two-tier F1.

Equally as crucial is Mosley’s governance of the sport, described by Briatore this week as “unilateral”, as the 68-year-old has acted without prior consultation with the teams.

Briatore maintains no team ideally wants to leave F1, that it is a last resort, but insists motor sport’s world governing body and Mosley have to be more flexible rather than dictatorial.

“The teams are F1 and the international federation should simply be the referee,” said outspoken Italian Briatore.

“The rules should be written by us. They can’t be imposed by Max without him speaking to anyone. That’s an unacceptable way to work.

“The FIA throws at us a new thing every week; we’ve gone from medals to diffusers with embarrassing thoughtlessness and we can’t go on like this. We must protect the work of our employees.”

However, insisting the teams are willing to work with the FIA, the 59-year-old added: “It must be clear that we, Ferrari, and the others have no intention of breaking with the FIA.

“We want to be there, to participate, and to preserve the future. We are setting logical conditions for Mosley.”

Yet the latest furore has again sparked talk of a breakaway series, a prospect Briatore has described as “a remote hypothesis everyone wants to avoid”.

He added: “We are living in a difficult moment and we must find a solution at all costs.

“I hope Mosley and his men will mend their ways in order to start over in full harmony.”

The Formula One Teams’ Association will initially meet this morning before sitting down with Mosley and F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone in the afternoon.

Briatore is hoping Mosley will see sense, that in pushing for a £40m (€44.75m) budget cap he is asking too much, too soon of all the present teams.

“A brutal solution, like the one we have now, has no chance. It would mean we would have to reduce our personnel by nearly 50%,” explained Briatore.

“We are talking over 200 jobs per team, and that is not going to happen overnight.

“Of course, we cannot forget we are still living in an enormous economic crisis and only close co-operation between the FIA, FOTA and the Formula One rights holder can prevent a collapse.

“The family must hold together in order to protect our investment and our business.

“But, in addition, if someone can operate a Formula One team on €20-25m, we have to prevent that.

“If someone makes that possible, the brand of Formula One, which has been laboriously developed over decades, will be worth nothing.

“It would be like cheap shops establishing themselves in an exclusive high street. Such a high level would be completely destroyed.

“I believe Formula One is a high-class product and without big, important names – such as Ferrari – it is worthless.”