Formula 1

Friday looms as the day F1 split

As the final 24 hours until the publication of the 2010 entry list beckons, the eight rebel Formula One teams known collectively as FOTA met once again in London. "I still believe that a reasonable solution can be found," Mercedes-Benz's Norbert ...

GMM

Published: Oct 2, 2009, 4:49 PM

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As the final 24 hours until the publication of the 2010 entry list beckons, the eight rebel Formula One teams known collectively as FOTA met once again in London.

"I still believe that a reasonable solution can be found," Mercedes-Benz's Norbert Haug is quoted as saying by Germany's DPA news agency.

The current state of affairs as FOTA met on Wednesday was the ongoing stalemate between the body and the FIA, led by a seemingly equally obstinate Max Mosley.

Mosley wrote to FOTA this week, requesting that the unconditional status of the FOTA teams' entries be dropped, and McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh suggested to Auto Motor und Sport that the association's reply was "very constructive".

However, Mosley's demands were not met, raising the prospect that marquee names including Ferrari and McLaren will be left off the entry list when it is published on Friday.

But speculation suggests that, due to existing (albeit disputed) agreements, Ferrari and the Red Bull teams might actually be named on the FIA's June 12 document.

The possibility led Ferrari's Stefano Domenicali to issue a media statement late Wednesday, insisting that if a compromise with the FIA is not reached imminently "then the FIA will not be able to include Ferrari" on the list of confirmed 2010 teams.

Although it is more than seven months until the first race of next season, there is a risk that June 12 could be the day on which a split became inevitable.

"If ten (non-FOTA) teams are given an entry there's a major problem," Ross Brawn said in Turkey last week. "So I hope – even if it's a holding position until we can sort this out – I hope there's a solution."

Domenicali agreed: "If you want to be sensible you can discuss whatever you want up until next year. But we need to find a solution as soon as possible."

It is arguable in whose court the ball currently lies, but as it is the FIA president who proposes revolutionising the rules, Italy's La Stampa newspaper observes: "Mr Mosley risks passing into history as the man who destroyed Formula One."

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