Ahead of the meeting, FIA president Max Mosley had insisted that he would not step down as part of the price of any potential agreement and might seek re-election as head of world motor sport. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
PARIS - FORMULA One's world governing body the FIA and the F1 teams association Fota agreed on Wednesday there will be no break-away championship next season following talks in Paris to ward off a threatened split.
FIA, Fota agreement summary
PARIS - FORMULA One's world governing body the FIA and teams association Fota have agreed not to split next season after reaching a compromise over the FIA's cost-cutting plans here.
The following is a summary of Wednesday's new Concorde agreement, valid through to 2012: All current teams have committed to the FIA Formula One World Championship and there will be no breakaway series.
Mr Mosley, pinpointing Ferrari as the ringleader of the rebel teams, had slammed the breakaway threat as 'amounting to serious violations of law including wilful interference with contractual relations, direct breaches of Ferrari's legal obligations and a grave violation of competition law.' And he vowed that the FIA would 'assert its legal rights.'
One paddock insider had last weekend described the spat as being 'as much a battle of egos as anything else.' But Mr Mosley appeared to have correctly sensed the outcome when he insisted that 'Always with these things in the end, there is a compromise because they (Fota) can't afford not to run in the Formula One world championship, and we would be very reluctant to have that without them,' he said.
'There will be no split - there will be one championship in 2010,' said FIA president Max Mosley.
'We have reached agreement on a number of items. In particular we have reached agreement on reduction of costs - we have had significant help from the Fota teams. The objective is to get back to early 1990s (spending) levels within two years. There will be no breakaway but there will be a single championship in 2010. We have reached agreement on cost cuts,' he added.
The accord followed a meeting of 120 members of the FIA and came in the wake of weeks of bitter rowing between the two bodies which centred on proposed tough spending limits from next season.
Ahead of the meeting, Mr Mosley had insisted that he would not step down as part of the price of any potential agreement and might seek re-election as head of world motor sport.
The 69-year-old Briton has been under pressure amid the disagreements over the proposed swingeing budget cuts.
The Paris meeting was a clear-the-air opportunity for member clubs to hear from F1 teams about their threat to secede from the FIA and set up a rival series, a proposal which had led the FIA to prepare a legal claim against Fota.
Writs against Ferrari and Fota - which also includes McLaren, BMW Sauber, Renault, Toyota, Red Bull Racing, Toro Rosso and Brawn GP - had been due to be served on Monday, but the FIA held back pending Wednesday's meeting.
At issue for the would-be breakaway teams were FIA plans to push through maximum budgets of E$45 million (S$92 million) per team - excluding driver wages and marketing costs - from 2010.
The breakaway threat had threatened to leave Formula One fighting for survival given the apparent huge gulf between big-money teams and the sport's cost-conscious rulers. -- AFP
