Mosley insists on speed cut

FIA president Max Mosley is determined to go ahead with plans to reduce speeds in Formula One and will give the technical working group a limited time to come up with workable ideas. Molsey intends to present the request at a World Motor Sport Council meeting this week.

"I've told them (the teams) that I'm going to ask the world council to give formal notice to the technical working group to come up with changes to slow the cars," he said, according to Reuters.

"That's the immediate priority and maybe out of that will come some ideas to make changes. They've then got two months to come up with something sensible."

Mosley expressed concerns about safety after high-speed crashes in the Canadian and American rounds of the championship and said the FIA could force teams to make changes if they could not find a suitable solution themselves.

A reduction in engine power from the current 3 litre V10 to a 2.4 litre V8 unit is one suggestion but manufacturer BMW, for one, is resisting that idea. Mosley believes a less powerful engine is the best solution and if BMW doesn't like it, it doesn't have to stay.

"I think probably it will come down to V8s," he said. "In the end it's a question of whether they (BMW) want to be in Formula One or not. I think if the majority go one way, it may be like that."

However, under the terms of the current Concorde Agreement, there has to be unanimous agreement to ratify any new regulations. An engine change might not come in the near future but in the mean time a restricted V10 may be a viable alternative.

Tyres are another area to consider in regard to reducing speed but some teams are reluctant to reduce the amount of testing they do. Until the testing argument is resolved, tyres remain undecided.