FIA rejects request for May 29 extension

The Formula One teams have asked for a grace period beyond Friday's deadline for 2010 entries, Flavio Briatore has revealed.

"We asked and we had no luck," said the Renault boss, also a leading light of the teams' alliance, FOTA.

Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali said before departing Monaco that he is expecting the days of this week to be "very long", as May 29 and the closing of official team entries for next year looms.

"Every year it (the entry deadline) is in November, and this year it is in May. I do not understand why," Briatore is quoted as saying on Monday by Spanish newspapers.

He said the FIA turned down the request of a two or four week deadline extension.

With every passing hour, the story about F1's power struggle develops.

The latest rumour is that FIA president Max Mosley's meeting with Martin Whitmarsh and Norbert Haug on Sunday morning is a sign that McLaren is set to join traditional ally Williams in lodging its entry paperwork by Friday.

Niki Lauda, the blunt-speaking former triple world champion, is unimpressed with the spate of politicking.

"For decades Formula One has been the stage for egocentric performers, and the cast grows every day, like cancer," he said in an interview with Austria's Kleine Zeitung newspaper.

The great driver also slammed the F1 teams for departing Monaco without better informing the public of the details behind the crisis, including the threats to quit the sport.

Lauda said reporters at the weekend were reporting "every fart" and detail of the situation, while the teams were "too stupid" to properly brief them.

"This is a Formula One that is just embarrassing," he added.