Ecclestone to Join FIA - FOTA Talks in London

Given the latest quit threats issued by the majority of F1 teams this week, sport's boss Bernie Ecclestone decided to join the meeting between FIA's Max Mosley and the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) representatives later this week, in London. The talks will focus on the controversial two-tier concept introduced by the FIA with the voluntary 40M budget cap for 2010.

According to the new regulations, the teams adhering to the aforementioned budget limitation will in turn benefit from technical freedom from the FIA. The other teams, however, will be stuck with several technical limitations in exchange of non policed F1 budgets. Needless to say, this will create an obvious gap in performances for the 2010 challengers.

Ferrari, Renault, BMW and Toyota have already announced they will not start the 2010 season if FIA decides not to revise the 40M budget cap proposal, while Red Bull's owner Dietrich Mateschitz also confirmed his team(s) will join the aforementioned manufacturers in their quit threats. What the teams are unhappy about is that Mosley did not consult with the FOTA prior to announcing the controversial rule book for 2010.

As far as Ecclestone is concerned, his main worries go to Ferrari, as he insisted Formula One cannot go on without its most faithful competitor. If the Italian team is convinced to stay in the series, the 78-year old Englishman believes the other manufacturers will likely follow their example.

“The key to F1 is Ferrari. They have been there for 60 years. They are partners of ours. They are the people we need to take into consideration. At the moment everyone is hanging on to their apron strings. Sort that out and we will be OK,” said Ecclestone.

The FIA, FOTA and the FOM (Formula One Management, controlled by Ecclestone) have only 2 weeks to sort things out, as the entry list for the 2010 Formula One championship will officially close on May 29.