French Court Denies Ferrari Bid Against the FIA

Ferrari have lost their case to the French Court in their attempt to block the implementation of the 40M budget cap during next season's Formula One Championship. The Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris has decided that Ferrari did not bring enough arguments to sustain their case and has therefore given clear light to the FIA for the introduction of the new rules.

It is believed part of the reason why the verdict went to strengthen FIA's position towards the budget cap saga was because new teams waiting to confirm their plans to enter the sport in 2010 wanted a quick decision on next year's regulations. It is suggested than no less than 8 teams (Wirth Research, Lola, USF1, Epsilon Euskadi, RML, Formtech, Campos and iSport) are now planning to bid for the 3 remaining spots of the 2010 entry list.

Ferrari had made an injunction to the 2010 regulations, as the Italian manufacturer argued the FIA did not take into consideration their veto right in terms of technical changes to the Formula One rule book. Following a past agreement between the FIA and Ferrari, the latter were granted with the aforementioned veto right, among other things.

The international body did, however, hit back at Ferrari's arguments, suggesting the Scuderia had plenty of chances to make use of their veto right, preferring to wait until the last moment instead.

It was reported that even if the Paris' Tribunal de Grande Instance had ruled for the Italian manufacturer, the FIA would have made use of their right to appeal the decision. Adding the fact that Formula One's rule book is not really under the jurisdiction of a civil court, the French judges decided to wash their hands of the matter and secure the FIA a first round advantage over Ferrari.

The Scuderia is yet to comment on the verdict issued today.