F1 : Teams to participate in 2010
he threat made by a number of Formula One teams to quit the sport appears to have receded after all existing entrants made the deadline to submit entries for the 2010 world championship.
All nine members of the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) submitted a block entry on Friday, albeit under conditions dictated as a compromise is sought with the FIA over the insistence of the latter's president, Max Mosley, on a £40 million budget cap from next year.
Williams broke ranks and entered the championship earlier in the week - a move which brought about their temporary suspension from FOTA.
A statement read: "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 already been decided in 2009 within FOTA, achieving important saving on engines and gearboxes."
"The FOTA teams have entered the 2010 championship on the basis that:
"1) The Concorde Agreement (the commercial protocol existing between teams, the FIA and the sport's commercial rights controller Bernie Ecclestone) 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."
The statement added: "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."
Now it appears that all the teams including Ferrari are set to participate in the 2010 edition and well beyond 2012. This news comes as a relief for the the F1 fans all around the world.
