Mosley: Resolution Close On F1 Breakaway Threat

FIA president Max Mosley believes a resolution is close to being reached to stop legal action against the F1 teams threatening a breakaway series.

Mosley has moved to calm fears the sport is on the verge of collapse after the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) said it is planning its own series following the ongoing row over a £40m budget cap on teams and how the sport is run.

‘We are talking to people all the time. It will all be back to normal, it’s just a question of when,’ said Mosley.

‘We are very close. What divides us and the teams is minimal and really is something we could sit down and iron out very quickly.

‘We have said to the teams we are ready to do this. Now it may take them a little time to get to the position where they want to, but when they do, we are ready.’

The eight FOTA teams – McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull, Brawn, Toro Rosso, Renault and Toyota – released a statement late on Thursday night declaring their intention to quit F1.

This was subsequently met with Mosley’s announcement that the FIA was set to sue the teams over any breakaway series.

However, when asked over the weekend if there was the potential for the writ not being issued, the 69-year-old added: ‘I think we would rather talk than litigate.’

FOTA has been trying to negotiate a compromise over Mosley’s plan to introduce an optional £40m budget cap next season, with technical advantages for those teams who choose to operate within it.

FOTA also wants to reduce budgets, but they want to do it in a different way from a cost cap.

They also want an end to what they see as Mosley’s autocratic governance of the sport, guarantees on the stability of the rules, and a reinstatement of the Concorde Agreement, which Mosley allowed to lapse in 2007.

The Concorde Agreement enshrined the rights of the teams, including their involvement in rule-making.

In a media interview, Mosley described the breakaway threat as ‘posing and posturing’, adding: ‘Always with these things in the end there’s a compromise. They can’t afford not to run in F1 and we would be very reluctant to have an F1 world championship without them.’