Walkout re-ignites F1 crisis

THE future of Formula One is again “in jeopardy” after the eight members of FOTA walked out of a meeting with the FIA yesterday, just two weeks after peace appeared to have broken out.

The latest dispute centres around the legality of the eight teams’ entry into next season’s championship, and voting rights in relation to the technical and sporting regulations. The furore follows a meeting of the FIA’s Sporting Working Group chaired by Charlie Whiting, the FOTA eight — Ferrari, McLaren, BMW Sauber, Renault, Toyota, Red Bull Racing, Toro Rosso and Brawn GP — as well as Williams, Force India and the three new teams, US F1, Campos Meta and Manor Grand Prix.

A FOTA statement said: “Representatives of all FOTA teams attended a meeting of the Sporting Working Group at the Nurburgring today.

“The team managers were informed by Charlie Whiting of the FIA that, contrary to previous agreements, the eight FOTA teams are not currently entered into the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship and have no voting rights in relation to the technical and sporting regulations thereof.

“In light of these claims, the FOTA representatives requested a postponement of today’s meetings.

“This was rejected... as a result of these statements, the FOTA representatives at the subsequent Technical Working Group were not able to exercise their rights and therefore had no option other than to terminate their participation.”