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Following on from last night’s announcement that the eight FOTA teams are to breakaway from Formula One and set up a rival series, the FIA have now responded. In typical fashion for the governing body, they have placed the blame for the negotiations failing firmly on FOTA’s shoulders, and stated that they cannot allow Formula One to become financial contest or allow FOTA to dictate the rules. Continue Reading

Friday 12th June will be an important day for the current saga that is gripping Formula One and the 2010 championship. As has been widely written about, the majority of current teams are unhappy with the governance of the sport an the direction the new rules are taking Formula One. The FOTA-8 (Force India are out as well now) have applied for entry to 2010, but with conditions, and yesterday the FIA president finally responded to the issues raised by FOTA’s conditioned entry. It was relatively blunt. Continue Reading

The current Formula One teams, the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone met today in a Heathrow hotel to discuss the intended 2010 budget cap rule. In the past week, five teams including Ferrari and both Red Bull squads said they wouldn’t compete in next year’s championship if the current proposals for a two-tier formula remained. The discussions resulted in no compromise and now the teams are talking between themselves to decide what their next move will be. Continue Reading

Take a deep breath everybody; Bernie Ecclestone is about to open his wallet! Of course I jest as Ecclestone has often helped out teams who face financial difficulty (although often and ultimately to his advantage), but the FIA have announced that FOM will offer help to new teams entering Formula One next year. This further adds to the incentives of the budget cap also confirmed following the FIA WMSC meeting in Paris. With several parties expressing an interest in joining the sport, these new measures will surely add to the temptation. Continue Reading

Back in March the FIA WMSC met to discuss future possibilities for the 2010 and 2011 Formula One seasons. Aside from the change in the points structure that was initially planned for 2009 but then put back until 2010 was the introduction of the optional budget cap. The cap was designed to allow smaller teams to compete with the larger teams, as those who accepted the limit of £30m would be have development limitations lifted. This cap as now been revised to £40m, but that isn’t the only change. Continue Reading

As always in Formula One, not everything is as black and white as it perhaps should be, and the diffuser issue that has embroiled the sport since even before the first race of the season is a classic example of this. Brawn, Williams and Toyota have all worked to within a loophole of the rules to design a diffuser that is higher in the middle, thus enabling an advantage. Those teams that chose not to design the part to this specification are now putting their arguments forward to the FIA ICA. Continue Reading

The 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix will certainly be one to remember, as the race was stopped early due to heavy rainfall. Only half points were awarded as the race had not reached its mandatory three-quarters distance needed for full points. And once again, it is Jenson Button who walks away with the maximum available, taking his second consecutive victory from Nick Heidfeld and Timo Glock. It wasn’t easy though, and many teams will be asking a lot of questions in the next fortnight. Continue Reading

McLaren’s Sporting Director, Dave Ryan, has been suspended by Martin Whitmarsh today, the action coming after Ryan’s involvement with the issues surrounding the team following the eventual disqualification of Lewis Hamilton from the Australian Grand Prix. Ryan’s suspension was announced this morning in Malaysia and as the first practice session commenced, Ryan was seen leaving the Sepang circuit. Continue Reading

It was announced yesterday in Australia (local time) by the FIA that Ferrari, Renault and Red Bull Racing had lodged protests over the diffusers on the Brawn, Toyota and Williams cars. The issue has been bubbling away for a while now after the teams saw what each other had done regarding the rear end of the 2009 machines. The complaints centered around a loophole in the regulations that essentially allows the diffusers to be extended higher than had previously been thought. Continue Reading

The Formula One Teams’ Association outlined today their proposals for the future of Formula One. FOTA are a new body, set up last year to collectively voice their concerns regarding Formula One in a unified and professional manner. Previously, it was nigh-on impossible to get the team chiefs to agree on anything, but with the apparent need to change, F1 bosses have united in their efforts. Today was their first real test. Continue Reading