FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[Frosty]

Not sure if many people even knew this was going on hasn't got much media attention but here is the first press release.

Date:
6 May, 2009

London, 6 May 2009 – 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.

[cap-dude]

Damn good, the FIA need to be sat down and told whats what. Yes they run the show, but at the end of the day its the teams out their running in the sport and they know whats good for the sport. The FIA are armchair experts in comparison.

Foremost, something needs said about the ridiculous points situation.

[bud]

FOTA the shining light on a dim horizon! Oh it's beautiful

[EwanM]

All of Fota or only some members?

[f1ea]

Ecclestone unsympathetic with FOTA concerns
“All they want to do is spend, spend, spend”

The Formula One Teams' Association yesterday admitted ‘concerns’ about the 2010 budget cap after a meeting in Heathrow.

To the UK newspaper Express, F1 Chief Executive Bernie Ecclestone said the teams are wrong to oppose the £40m sterling cap.

"The big teams don't get it because it's not in their DNA to make money in Formula One. All they want to do is spend, spend, spend," he said.

"Odd isn't it that at a time when everyone else in the commercial world is trying to cut costs and save money, we offer them a plan and some are not happy," Ecclestone added.
He also thinks the time is right for the car manufacturers in F1 to dramatically curb their spending.

"How will it look if a board of one of the manufacturers which is losing money turns down the chance to cut costs hugely?” he wondered.

The FOTA statement also said discussions about a new Concorde Agreement were held in London, and it was agreed to continue cost-cutting methods for 2010 and 2011.

Ross Brawn was interviewed by the BBC afterwards but did not comment on earlier speculation that he could be removed as FOTA's technical chief, or prevented from receiving Honda's owed commercial income.
E.A. © CAPSIS International
Source: GMM

[bud]

Pitpasses take on Bernies comments....


As good as it is to see Ecclestone encouraging prudence and thrift, it seems slightly at odds when one considers the money he demands from circuits owners/governments, especially when the fee for hosting a race rises by a fixed rate every season.

Interesting also, that despite his desire to see common sense with regards spending, he is pushing Donington to spend money it clearly has not got, while turning his back on Silverstone because it is unwilling and unable to splash the cash on increased race fees and improved facilities that would ultimately only benefit the man himself.

[Frosty]

I didn't know what thread to put this in but as it has quite a lot to do with FOTA I put it here. James Allen wrote the following on his site earlier.

"There is one school of thought going around this weekend that if all the current teams, collectively as FOTA, were to choose to run uncapped, accepting that the three new teams would run capped, it might work out that the balance would not be destroyed because the three new teams would not be able to build a state of the art car in their first year, which was within three seconds a lap of a current top team anyway. This would buy some time to get the budget cap negotiated better and eliminate the two tier system for 2011, while not preventing the new teams from coming in next year."

I never thought of this solution and I find it hard to believe that it is being seriously considered.

[bud]

the FIA are hypocritical when it comes to cost cutting. if they were truly serious they would not be changing the regulations every 1 or 2 years! It really is ridiculous the way they are running the sport! FOTA do not need them i dont see why they are sticking with Bernies F1.