F1 Teams Back Cost-cutting Measures

Following a meeting of the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA), all teams on the grid have ratified the cost-cutting proposals for the sport to safeguard its future.

All teams, with the exception of Force India, were present at the meeting in Heathrow which gave the green light to plans to cut testing in 2009 and to supply independent teams with engines costing £4.5m from 2010.

The teams also pledged to develop low-cost transmissions for the 2010-12 seasons as well as backing the intention to eliminate the use of expensive materials, components and systems that offer little in terms of performance differentiation.

In a statement Fota said: ‘All the teams are committed to working together in a rational and systematic manner within the framework of Fota to effectively reduce the costs inherent in Formula One. The same approach will now be used to improve the spectacle of the sport.’

Fota’s unified response comes after Max Mosley, president of the sport’s governing body, the FIA, urged the teams to find new ways to cut spending in response to the global economic crisis.

At a meeting in Monte Carlo in December, Fota and the FIA agreed a raft of measures to protect the sport’s future in the wake of the economic downturn and Honda’s shock withdrawal from the sport.

The changes include plans to double engine life in 2009, to limit engine revs and to cut the cost of engines supplied to independent teams by approximately 50% of 2008 prices.

Fota willingly agreed to cut costs over the next two seasons with more measures, such as increased limits on testing and additional engine restrictions, to follow in the coming campaigns.
But Mosley warned that if the teams were not open to further change then Formula One in its current form would be at risk.

‘The FIA itself would not be financially disadvantaged by a collapse of Formula One. We are therefore prepared to act radically. We hope that, notwithstanding the changes which must now be made, all teams which are still in business in 2010 will enter.

‘But as already stated, we will be ready to recognise an independent series should some teams prefer to go their own way.’