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FOTA walks out of meeting as politics remain the focus in Formula One
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FOTA walked out of an FIA led metting in Germany. Photo: AP/Luca Bruno
A walk out by the Formula One Teams Association at a meeting with FIA representatives yesterday at the Nurburgring, has proved that any lasting peace deal between the two groups is perhaps still rather tenuous. Debate now stems from the final guise of the 2010 rules, the emergence of a completely new 2009 Concorde Agreement, and the future of Max Mosley and F.1 supremo, Bernie Ecclestone - whose recent comments have called for boycotts of the sport altogether.
The meeting was scheduled in order to cement technical rules for next year’s season, but the FOTA teams were told that as they had not entered the 2010 Championship they had no voting rights.
A press release by FOTA contradicts what FIA representative Charlie Whiting expressed at the meeting regarding their entry into the 2010 season. FOTA argue ‘that all eight active FOTA members were included on the “accepted” entry list as endorsed by the FIA World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) and communicated by FIA press statement on June 24.’
FOTA tried to get a postponement of yesterday’s meeting but this was, according to FOTA, ‘rejected on the grounds that no new Concorde Agreement would be permitted before a unanimous approval of the 2010 regulations was achieved.’ FOTA believe that the basis of the 2010 technical and sporting regulations was established at meetings in Paris several weeks ago.
They expressed that to ‘go against the will of the WMSC and the detail of the Paris agreement puts the future of Formula 1 in jeopardy.’ As a result FOTA decided to walk out of the meeting. (www.teamsassociation.org/press-release/2009-07-08/press-release)
The FIA has released its own press statement over the walk out:
‘Before FOTA’s decision to walk out of yesterday’s Technical Working Group meeting, the President of the FIA [Max Mosley] wrote twice to the President of FOTA [Luca di Montezemolo] to remind him that any amendments to the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship regulations were subject to the unanimous approval of the five teams that had already entered for next season under the rules as published.
This is because of the International Sporting Code and also because the entered teams have a contract with the FIA which not even the General Assembly or the World Council can abrogate. Anyone with an elementary knowledge of motor sport governance knows this. Imagine the uproar if, after the FOTA teams had entered, the World Council were subsequently to change the rules without asking them.
It follows that the agreement of the five teams currently entered in the 2010 World Championship to all 2010 rule changes is required. To suggest that FOTA were only made aware of this during the meetings of yesterday is quite simply untrue. So is the implicit claim that they were all unaware of one of motor sport’s basic principles.’(www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/f1releases/2009/Pages/2010_f1_regs.aspx)
The FIA go on to argue that they believed FOTA wanted a new Concorde Agreement, which was initially a slightly reworked version of the 1998 agreement. This would have led to the creation of an F1 Commission to deal with future rule changes. They claim what they received instead was a 350 page document, essentially a brand new Concorde Agreement which was hastily put in front of FIA lawyers to tackle. The document remains a work in progress in which the FIA hope to have signed by all parties fairly shortly.
(Ecclestone here in Paris June 24. Photo: AP/Francois Mori)
Once again political infighting looks set to overshadow this weekend’s race in Germany. Last week it began with F.1 supremo, Bernie Ecclestone, who controls the sport’s commercial interests, making comments about Hitler as being a person who “got things done.” Ecclestone is no stranger to controversial comments, but the latest remarks, which also included his ideas about the folly of removing Saddam Hussein and his preference for strong and slightly tyrannical government, generated a bitter storm of controversy.
Ecclestone also plugged his good friend Mosley as an excellent candidate for leadership of Britain - somewhat ironically since Mosley's father, Oswald Mosley, was a former leader of British Union of Fascists - and that democracy had done little good for the UK. Some German Jewish groups called for F.1 teams to boycott the sport altogether and Ecclestone has since said he regretted the way in which he worded his statements and hired a public relations firm to help with damage control. (www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article6633340.ece)
Adding to the distraction was the revelation early this week that Finnish rallying legend, Ari Vatanen, who won the World Rally Championship in 1981, may seek election for FIA president. Vatanen, who is well known in Europe, has competed in various rally championships since his ‘81 title and also been a member of the European Parliament and is no stranger to politics. His hint at running for FIA president has apparently been popularly received.
Hopefully, for F.1 fans, this weekend’s race will not be marred by the bitter politics we’ve seen all season. Weather predictions are for cooler temperatures and possibly some rain which will suit the Red Bull team and make life difficult for Brawn GP who struggled last round at Silverstone with tire grip in cooler conditions.
For more info: www.formula1.com www.fia.com www.teamsassociation.org www.arivatanen.com/EN/home.html
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