FOTA teams commit to 2010
All the current Formula One teams have submitted conditional entries to compete in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship.
Ferrari and some other teams had previously threatened to pull out of Formula One if the new regulations were not changed. On Monday Williams lodged their 2010 application, and in so doing were suspended from FOTA.
It seems the outcome of negotiations between FOTA and the FIA is that the current 2009 rules will continue in return for the teams signing a new Concorde Agreement to commit to racing until 2012.
In a press release on the FOTA website, the Teams Association said:
All FOTA Teams have today submitted conditional entries for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship.
FOTA confirms all its Members’ long-term commitment to be involved in the FIA Formula One World Championship and has unanimously agreed further and significant actions to substantially reduce the costs of competing in the Championship in the next three years, creating a mechanism that will preserve the technological competition and the sporting challenge and, at the same time, facilitate the entry in the F1 Championship for new Teams. These measures are in line with what has been already decided in 2009 within FOTA, achieving important savings on engines and gearboxes.
All FOTA teams have entered the 2010 championship on the basis that:
1) The Concorde Agreement is signed by all parties before 12th June 2009, after which all FOTA teams will commit to competing in Formula One until 2012. The renewal of the Concorde Agreement will provide security for the future of the sport by binding all parties in a formal relationship that will ensure stability via sound governance.
2) The basis of the 2010 regulations will be the current 2009 regulations, amended in accordance with proposals that FOTA has submitted to the FIA.
All FOTA teams’ entries for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship have been submitted today on the understanding that (a) all FOTA teams will be permitted to compete during the 2010 Formula One Season on an identical regulatory basis and (b) that they may only be accepted as a whole.
All FOTA teams now look forward with optimism to collaborating proactively and productively with the FIA, with a view to establishing a solid foundation on which the future of a healthy and successful Formula One can be built, providing lasting stability and sound governance.