Force India submit "unconditional entry"

[Somebody]

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21549.html

[Sonic]

And so Max's position strengthens. Its only a matter of time before FOTA loose a "big" team.

[woody2goody]

It's a great move by Vijay Mallya and co.

I reckon it's only a matter of time before we see Brawn, and probably McLaren follow.

[wmcot]

Not a surprise considering they are already pretty much an independent team (they could slap a Cosworth in and not suffer much.) If the others withdraw from F1, Williams and Force India could be favorites for the 2010 championship!

[Knock-on]

It's a great move by Vijay Mallya and co.

I reckon it's only a matter of time before we see Brawn, and probably McLaren follow.

Yep, and Torro.

Max has won this one and the Manufacturers will have to fall in line or leave.

I see Toyota and probably BMW going next year. Mercedes are OK at the moment I think and renault will probably sell out to a Flav buyout.

[DazzlaF1]

Mercedes i think will follow whatever McLaren do and you're right, i can see Brawn following the Williams/Force India lead too.

The more this is going on, the more Max is winning the war.

[ioan]

Originally Posted by View Post
"I understand Frank's position, Frank had contractual agreements with Bernie and the FIA which we don't have, so he had some difficulty in that respect," said Brawn about the impact of the Williams entry.

"But the existence of this team was dependent on the support of FOTA teams - McLaren and Mercedes in particular are the reason why we are here, and I think the FOTA initiatives are good.

"We seem to have had a disconnection in terms of liaising and negotiating with the FIA, and that has perhaps been the problem because FOTA has got a lot of good ideas and the FIA has got a lot of good ideas. Hopefully those ideas will be brought together to find a solution.

"We seem to have disconnected somehow in this process and what we need to do is reconnect, and I feel that I want to be part of FOTA. It is a good initiative and I feel I can help more towards finding a solution being a member of FOTA than I can stepping out of it, so I intend to remain within FOTA."


http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/75910

Also the manufacturers signed an agreement in which they all agree not to submit a separate entry. defaulting on this agreement will cost the offender a 50 millions fine.

I don't see Mercedes jumping over right now.

It is also rumored that in case they don't get a favorable answer they are considering setting up the Grand Prix Championship where each of the 3 teams would run 3 cars!
Think about a series where Ferrari has Massa, Raikkonen and Alonso as drivers! :D

Also today the drivers announced that they are supporting their respective FOTA member teams in their quest against the FIA. So if there is no FOTA in F1 next year than there is no superstar drivers either.

[gloomyDAY]

We'll find out this coming Friday on whether we willl be watching sports cars or F1.

Can you imagine Fernando in a LMP1?

[Somebody]

Also today the drivers announced that they are supporting their respective FOTA member teams in their quest against the FIA. So if there is no FOTA in F1 next year than there is no superstar drivers either.

Well, see... most of the new teams are dependent on the budget cap's existence, see? And even if driver salaries aren't included, they're not going to have the money for superstar salaries, see? So the drivers know what side their bread's buttered on, see.

[ioan]

Well, well, this is becoming interesting!
Force India wants back in the FOTA and pledges his total commitment to FOTA. Maybe Mercedes flexed their muscles?!

[K-Pu]

Well, see... most of the new teams are dependent on the budget cap's existence, see? And even if driver salaries aren't included, they're not going to have the money for superstar salaries, see? So the drivers know what side their bread's buttered on, see.

If you earn millions driving today, and tomorrow you´ll only get thousands... Why bother racing?

That´s what some pilots could think, and if their only hope is to get as much money as possible (I bet two of my toenails they´re not exactly poor) instead of racing, they should follow the dictates of their heart and go wherever the big money is.

And everyone should shut the f*** up and not interfere with this, because we´re talking about big money and we have no idea of how hard it is to earn some gazillions a year.

Is it that hard to stay in F1 within reasonable spending limits? And this affects the two sides, because burning money (as the manufacturers do) is as bad as chucking F1 into a stupid budget cap. Is there nothing between these two things?

Sorry, I forgot about the paragraph above. Now I shut up.

[veeten]

Well, well, this is becoming interesting!
Force India wants back in the FOTA and pledges his total commitment to FOTA. Maybe Mercedes flexed their muscles?!

No, he's just fighting the suspension. Here's the whole story...

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/75942

The most interesting passages are...



"All I said to John was, the circumstances of Force India are quite different to the circumstances of Williams - first and foremost I was completely transparent with FOTA and gave them copies of correspondence with my bankers and lawyers."

"All I said to John was, the circumstances of Force India are quite different to the circumstances of Williams - first and foremost I was completely transparent with FOTA and gave them copies of correspondence with my bankers and lawyers.
"Basically F1, like in the case of any other business, relies on its bankers to provide ongoing capital support. As you would in any business, you go to the bank and demonstrate sources of income, the sources of income are from sponsorship and the disbursement of revenue from FOM arising out of the television income that you are fully aware of.
"Both these sources of income, which are sources of comfort for banks to lend money, would have been under threat if our entry was not accepted. So therefore we were legally advised that Force India might breach our banking covenants if we went down the route of a conditional entry and did not lodge an unconditional entry as always. All of this was completely shared with FOTA."

and...


"If they appreciate it, well and good, if they don't appreciate it then why should I lose sleep over it? I am doing what is good for Force India, first because I have a duty to comply with my legal obligations, I have a duty to the team and the company, and at the end of the day if it stops racing there is no business.
"Under the circumstances I had to do what I did. If FOTA membership cannot accept it then there is little I can do about it. Life goes on."

[ioan]

No, he's just fighting the suspension. Here's the whole story...

So he wants back in the FOTA.

[CNR]

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/08062009/13/mosley-pushing-hard-fota-teams.html



It was recently reported that FIA President Max Mosley himself suggested to the Formula One Teams Association that, in view of their strong protest against the implementation of the 2010 budget capping regulations adopted by the sport's governing body, they should file their entries in next year's championship with conditions attached to their entry forms.
It now appears that Mosley is suggesting they do exactly the contrary, claiming that it is only once the FOTA members unconditionally present their entries for the 2010 season that they may then work on changing the rules, Autosport revealed.
Mosley's position is that, while the FOTA teams continue to strongly oppose the measures adopted by the FIA (which would see annual budgets radically slashed to €45m (US $62m), an amount not including certain salaries and marketing considerations), the 'rebel' teams should accept the 2010 rules as they stand before lobbying for any amendments.
"Under the International Sporting Code (Art. 66) we cannot now change the published 2010 rules unless we have the consent of all the competitors who have entered," Mosley stated in a letter sent to the eight FOTA members: Ferrari (http://www.motorsportforums.com/formula-1/ferrari.html), Toyota (http://www.motorsportforums.com/formula-1/toyota.html), Renault (http://www.motorsportforums.com/formula-1/renault.html), McLaren (http://www.motorsportforums.com/formula-1/mclaren.html), BMW (http://www.motorsportforums.com/formula-1/bmw-sauber.html), Brawn, Red Bull (http://www.motorsportforums.com/f1/teams/120.html) and Toro Rosso (http://www.motorsportforums.com/formula-1/toro-rosso.html).
"However once we have a list of confirmed entries, we can make changes provided we have the necessary unanimous agreement," he added.

[ioan]

It's easy Max, you accept the FOTA conditional entry and than make the changes! Voila!

Otherwise you can start counting the days you have left until they kick you out from your FIA seat.