The Latest on the rules

[blacktulip]

Formula One team bosses today handed FIA president Max Mosley their final proposal in a bid to resolve the row rocking the sport.



That was the word from Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo after a two-and-a-half-hour meeting of the Formula One Teams' Association aboard Renault team principal Flavio Briatore's multi-million pound yacht, Force Blue, moored in the Monte Carlo harbour.

Confirming common ground had been reached amongst all 10 teams, it would appear to represent the last hope of any compromise between FOTA and motor sport's world governing body.

"As always there's been a very good meeting, with a very good atmosphere," confirmed Di Montezemolo as he was mobbed by TV crews and photographers after stepping off the boat.

"We are altogether and we will be in position to go to the chairman of FIA (Mosley) saying in a very constructive, but very clear way, the position of FOTA."

When asked whether he was confident regarding the future, he simply said: "We will see.

"What is important is that our view of the future is absolutely in common."

But when more pertinently asked if it was a final proposition, he starkly replied: "Yes."

Di Montezemolo barely made it to an awaiting Ferrari moped before being whisked away to face Mosley for potentially one of the most crucial meetings in F1 history.

Should Mosley continue to dig in his heels regarding the imposition of a £40million budget cap and refuse to accede to Di Montezemolo's proposals, it could lead to Ferrari walking away.

However, if di Montezemolo's assertion is correct that all 10 teams are now behind Ferrari, potentially it could be a case of one out, all out.

It is clear Mosley's governance of Formula One remains an issue, in particular the unilateral way he forced through the new regulations without consulting the teams.

As Di Montezemolo added: "We have this governance.

"So we have to discuss the possibility of changing the situation in a constructive, but in a very clear way, because we want Formula One. We don't want something else."

On Wednesday, Ferrari failed in their bid to acquire an injunction against next year's regulations.

The Tribunal recognised Ferrari have a right of veto with regard to new rules drawn up by the FIA, a special arrangement that came into force between the team and governing body in 2005.

The Tribunal stated such a veto should have been exercised at the World Council meetings of March 17 and April 29 when Mosley and the FIA confirmed a budget cap was being introduced.

However, as the dispute is a contractual matter, the Tribunal made it clear a decision is beyond their remit, and instead is one for the civil courts, a prospect that still remains open to Ferrari.

[blacktulip]

Crisis talks over the budget cap regulations will continue into the weekend in Monaco after a compromise solution was again not reached following a day of high-level discussions involving the teams and FIA today.

With the Friday of the Monaco Grand Prix traditionally seeing no F1 track action, the Formula One Teams’ Association spent the afternoon locked in talks in their bid to get the optional £40 million cap for 2010 scrapped.

After agreeing on the position they would present to FIA president Max Mosley during a meeting aboard Renault boss Flavio Briatore’s luxury yacht, FOTA then met Mosley at the Automobile Club de Monaco for several hours of discussions.

However, despite FOTA chairman Luca di Montezemolo describing the latest round of talks as “constructive”, a compromise agreement over the 2010 rules was again not reached.

The discussions are now set to resume on Saturday as both sides continue to try and find a resolution to the budget cap row.

[blacktulip]

Bernie Ecclestone has issued a thinly veiled warning that he will sue Ferrari if it walks away from Formula 1 in frustration at next year’s rules.

After failing on Wednesday to secure an injunction from a French court to stop the planned budget cap being introduced in 2010, Ferrari repeated its threat to quit F1 unless agreement could be reached on an alternative solution.

The Maranello team maintains that by forcing through the controversial budget cap the FIA has violated a contractual agreement signed in 2005 that gives Ferrari a right of veto over technical rule changes.

The court acknowledged this veto power, but said Ferrari should have exercised it earlier at the relevant World Council meetings – leading the team to claim that the substance of its position about the FIA’s contractual obligations had been upheld.

However, in a new twist to the increasingly acrimonious saga that is overshadowing the build-up to Sunday’s showpiece Monaco Grand Prix, Ecclestone put a starkly different interpretation on the court’s decision to recognise the validity of contracts in place between him, the FIA and Ferrari.

The sport’s commercial ringmaster suggested that Ferrari would itself be in breach of contract if it were to pull out of F1 in 2010 – having pledged its involvement through to 2012 – and hinted that such a move would trigger legal action.

“We would always respect our contracts,” Ecclestone told The Times.

“And all the teams that have signed contracts with us would expect us to respect them, and we would expect the same from Ferrari.

“They are saying they are going to walk, we are saying we hope they respect their contract.”

[blacktulip]

So Bernie is now trying the big man stuff as he knows his empire is starting to crumble

[seabassfan]

Maybe I should go to ferrari.com and suggest to them that, if Bernie and the FIA take them to court, they set up a special link for fans to donate- no more than US$10.00/fan- to their legal defense fund. I, myself, am on the side of Ferrari and the other teams in this fight. However, I don't think they'd go to court if the other teams keep their backbones and back Ferrari all the way- even to the point of withdrawing from whatever the rest of the season would be. But then (I've got 3 hands) - Bernie and Maxie are all about making money and they'll be the one's to blink!!