Five major manufacturers in formula one met on Wednesday and said they are going ahead with plans for a breakaway series beginning in 2008.
BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Renault, Toyota and Honda — comprising a group known as the Grand Prix Manufacturers’ Association (GPMA) — met seven of the 10 formula-one teams: BAR, McLaren, Minardi, Renault, Sauber, Toyota and Williams.
Ferrari, Jordan and Red Bull have already signed up to stay with formula-one commercial-rights holder Bernie Ecclestone beyond the 2007 season and did not attend the meeting near Munich, Germany.
The meeting could be a setback for FIA president Max Mosley and Ecclestone, who are trying to retain their 25-year control of the lucrative series. The manufacturers and teams have threatened to leave unless the sport is reformed.
The FIA is the world governing body of motor racing and exerts strong influence over formula one. Ecclestone and Mosley are long-time friends, and Mosley is Ecclestone’s former lawyer.
”While the group remains open and willing to discuss with the current commercial-rights holder and the FIA on the future of grand-prix motor racing beyond 2007, the current uncertainty leaves them with no option other than to progress preparatory work for the new series,” the GPMA said in a statement.
”Although the team principals and manufacturers agree that some progress was made in the recent meetings, they considered it was not sufficient to delay the preparations for the new series.”
Mosley and Ecclestone are reported to have offered some concessions to keep the breakaway teams in the fold.
However, the five manufacturers and their representative teams said they signed a ”binding agreement to race together only in a series which satisfies the fundamental principles of a clear and equitable world championship”.
The GPMA and teams have called for more financial transparency, and want the power of the FIA limited to interpreting rules.
The breakaway group wants appeals taken to the independent, Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport, rather than the FIA’s own court. It also asked that special veto rules — granted only to Ferrari — be rescinded.
The FIA has proposed new rules for the sport when the Concorde Agreement ends after the 2007 season. The Concorde Agreement between formula-one teams and the FIA spells out how formula one is governed and revenue is divided.
Speaking in Shanghai, China, earlier this month, Mosley downplayed any breakaway.
”It is becoming in my view, increasingly unlikely that [a new racing series] will happen,” Mosley said. He suggested the manufacturers and the teams lacked the financial resources to run a new series. — Sapa-AP