D-Day looms for F1

FIA president Max Mosley will tomorrow announce a Formula One line-up for 2010 that could send shockwaves through the sport.

Mosley met with a handful of representatives from the Formula One Teams’ Association in London today, in an 11th-hour attempt to resolve the budget-cap row that has dominated F1 in recent weeks.

Despite further lengthy negotiations between Mosley, Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali, Toyota Motorsport boss and FOTA vice-chairman John Howett, Red Bull Racing chief Christian Horner and Ross Brawn, it is understood fundamental differences still remain.

If that is the case then the names on the grid for next year are likely to be very different to those currently competing.

In a bid to potentially soften criticism of his decision, a letter from Mosley to Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has today been leaked.

The timing of it cannot be ignored as it paints Mosley in a particularly good light, as someone willing to fall back on his previously hardline stance over the voluntary cap.

The suggestion is it is the teams who have perhaps refused to play fair, and fall into line with his conciliatory thinking.

In the letter, dated May 26, Mosley is adamant a cap must be in place for next year, but he suggests it “could be as high as €100m”.

The figure would then fall to €45m in 2011, at least offering the teams a year’s breathing space instead of demanding such a cap be in place for 2010, as initially stated.

Of greater significance is Mosley agreeing to all teams racing “under the same 2010 rules...with the technical and sporting advantages originally offered to the cost-cap teams deleted”.

Such a proposal would have ensured no two-tier F1, with Mosley suggesting a transfer of “know-how between current teams and new entrants, at least for 2010, and possibly for 2011”.

Mosley further agreed that “one employee per team in addition to the drivers be outside the cap for 2011 and thereafter”.

This would have allowed the likes of Adrian Newey to be exempt given the level of his salary paid by Red Bull Racing for his technical expertise.

Mosley also confirms he is willing “to negotiate a new Concorde Agreement” (the confidential commercial document governing the sport), given FOTA’s initial draft was “broadly acceptable”.

Given FOTA’s abhorrence of the phrase ’cost cap’, Mosley even indicated for future reference it could be described as “financial regulations, or any other sensible term”.

So with Mosley seemingly willing to relent, the obvious question falls on the shoulders of the eight remaining members of FOTA: Why have they not accepted such proposals and signed up?

It is known the likes of Toyota, for instance, were fundamentally against the imposition of any cap at any level, which is why the teams were demanding this year’s rules be in place for next year.

At the heart of the matter has also been Mosley’s governance, with the teams calling for there to be change going forward for the sport to thrive and prosper.

With seemingly no middle ground on such points, despite Mosley’s insistence this week that the FOTA eight sign up unconditionally so they could play a part in shaping any new rules, F1 stands on the brink of a seismic change.

It is known that due to contractual obligations, Williams and Force India lodged unconditional entries and will definitely be two of the potential 13 teams to be confirmed for 2010 around lunchtime tomorrow.

The suggestion is Ferrari will also be included due to a deal with the FIA in 2005 that legally binds them to F1 until 2012.

Ferrari have already argued such an agreement is invalid as Mosley neglected to keep his side of the contract in failing to consult with the teams over the rule changes.

There is also an unconfirmed claim that Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso will be included due to contractual conditions of their own.

If so, that would leave McLaren, Toyota, BMW Sauber, Renault and Brawn GP out of F1, opening up the possibility of eight new teams being on the grid.

At least 10 teams are known to have lodged entries prior to the May 29 deadline - Prodrive, Lola, Team US F1, Campos Meta1, March, Team Superfund, Lotus-Litespeed GP, N.Technology, Formtech-Brabham and Epsilon Euskadi.