Black smoke over the future of F1

The conciliation meeting between the high spheres of the discipline did not make it possible to reach any compromise. Neither Mosley nor the team bosses wanted to compromise on their positions. And it is difficult to see what could bring them together in a common project.

Published on 16/05/2009 à 10:15

⁰ View comments)

The meeting bringing the bosses of the stables face to face F1 under the united banner of Fota, Max Mosley, president of the FIA, and Bernie Ecclestone, representative of CVC, operator of the commercial rights of F1, ended in failure. In the absence of Luca di Montezemolo, detained in Italy by the death of his father, Ferrari was represented by Stefano Domenicali,
the general director of the Scuderia.

As we suspected, Ferrari, supported by a few other teams, criticized Mosley for having had new regulations voted on by the FIA World Council without having respected the legal procedures imposed by its own structures. These procedures are imposed by an agreement between Ferrari, the FIA and Ecclestone dating from 2005 and offering the Italian team the possibility of vetoing certain decisions! Note also that these decisions did not pass through the F1 Commission either?

Unless Mosley backs down, which is difficult to imagine as he is so keen to impose his budget limited to 44 million euros (40 million pounds), the affair could very quickly lead to legal action. Ferrari's lawyers took charge of the case, filing the case before the French courts.