Formula 1 teams have written to FIA president Max Mosley requesting that next year's regulations are scrapped if they are to commit their future to the sport, AUTOSPORT has learned.

Although Mosley hinted on race morning at the Monaco Grand Prix that he was open to a compromise deal about plans for a £40 million budget cap, the teams have now made it clear the conditions by which they will continue to race.

In a letter signed by all teams and sent to Mosley shortly before the race, the teams demanded that the FIA ditches the planned 2010 technical and sporting regulations and reverts to the current 2009 version.

This would then be used as the starting point for framing new regulations to bring costs under control - with agreed changes like a refueling ban still expected to go ahead as planned.

As well as the rule changes, the teams want guarantees about the governance of the sport and the reestablishment of protocols, like the use of the Formula 1 Commission, to ensure there is proper framing of the rules going forward.

A FOTA source said that in exchange for the FIA agreeing to such action, the teams have promised a "willingness to commit their future to the sport." It is understood that the teams are prepared to commit not just to next year, but until 2012.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali confirmed the existence of the letter shortly after the Monaco Grand Prix.

"What we have asked is to go back to the rules of this year, the 2009 rules," he said. "And then see together what we can do in order to make changes for next year.

"Bear in mind that for sure the cost is something that all the teams are fully committed to work on, but the cost is something that is related to the business of the teams.

"We know what we can invest. We know what we can do, and this is something that the teams can discuss internally and decide on their own what they can afford to keep the value of F1 at the standard that we know. It is not something that we feel should be involved with somebody else."

While there has been talk of a compromise 45 million Euros budget cap in place for 2011, sources have suggested that the teams are still far apart from the FIA in agreeing a way forward.

It is understood that one suggestion being looked at is for the teams to invoke a 'Cost Control System', which will be regulated by FOTA rather than the FIA, to help bring finances under control.

When asked by AUTOSPORT if he was optimistic about a solution being found before Friday's entry deadline to the championship, Domenicali said: "I don't know really. I think the points that we have put on the table are pretty clear, and I think we raised some issues in the meeting that we had.

"It was as we said constructive, but there is an ongoing process to discuss. I am sure it will be a very important week because the entry to this championship has to be finalised by Friday. I think they will be long days."

FOTA vice chairman John Howett echoed Domenicali's reluctance to get too optimistic about a deal being easily reached.

"I think we have to wait and see," he said. "There are still some gaps. While there has been definite movement, I think we have to wait and see what the solution is and whether it is accepted or not."

Brawn chief executive officer Nick Fry said that the push by the teams about using the 2009 regulations again in 2010 was not indicative of the discussions having broken down.

"No. It is not a stalemate. It is normal negotiations. The sides have some differences of view in terms of how the regulations should look, and once one side has put a view forward, the other side responds - and so on and so forth. I would consider that to be perfectly normal.

"We are all in favour of a degree of financial responsibility. I know there is no team that is proposing a financial free for all, we all represent big companies and the economic times are not appropriate to be spending a lot of money. The only discussion is how you do it, and what the right mechanism is.

"We have a huge range of teams - teams that want to come into the championship that are small and have limited resources and coming from lower formulas; we have teams who do have a huge amount of infrastructure and we have teams like ourselves that were lucky enough to benefit from manufacturer backing but now don't have that, and teams that are still very large and enjoy manufacturer backing.

"And the issue is how you actually find a compromise that enables the little guys to have a fighting chance and the big guys to downsize their companies in a sensible period of time. And that is not easy."

FOTA members are expected to meet later this week to discuss their stance towards lodging entries by Friday's deadline, but much depends on the FIA's response to the latest demands.

Four teams have reportedly paid the necessary deposit to reserve a supply of Cosworth's customer Formula One engine for 2010.

Accompanying the sport's lower-cost future, the independent British company is set to return to F1 next year at the initiative of the FIA, guaranteeing a low-cost engine amid quit threats of engine makers that are currently involved.

Peter Windsor, the British journalist behind the USF1 team, confirmed at Monaco that accompanying a team's official 2010 entry must be an arrangement for an engine supplier.
He said USF1 has indeed done a deal with Cosworth, and Germany's Auto Motor und Sport claims that the arrangement must have involved the transfer of 2.5 million euros.

The publication said three other potential 2010 entrants have also paid the Cosworth deposit: including probably Campos Racing and Joan Villadelprat's Epsilon Euskadi.

"It is true that we are trying (to set up a F1 team)," Villadelprat confirmed to the Spanish newspaper El Pais. "At the moment I would say the chances of the project coming to fruition is 50 per cent."

Williams have been suspended from the Formula 1 Teams' Association (Fota) after signing up for the 2010 season.

The teams are in talks over planned budgetary curbs for next year and several teams including Ferrari say they will quit if a deal is not agreed.

"Fota's decision, although regrettable, is understandable," said team principal Frank Williams.

"As a company whose only business is F1 with obligations to our partners and employees entering was unquestionable."

Team chiefs met in Monaco at the weekend to discuss the proposals put forward by International Motorsport Federation (FIA) chief Max Mosley, and further talks are planned for London on Wednesday.

Ferrari, Renault, Red Bull and Toyota have all threatened to pull out of the sport if the budgetary restrictions are forced through, but on Monday, the day after the Monaco Grand Prix, Williams broke ranks and confirmed they were signing up for next season.

At the time, Williams chief executive Adam Parr said they felt "morally and legally obliged" to make it clear the team would continue to take part in F1.

"We owe it to our employees, sponsors and fans who are affected by statements that teams may not enter next year," he added.

It is not clear how long the suspension from Fota will be in operation.

Ferrari's threat to quit Formula One would appear to be over after they on Friday joined eight other current teams in submitting a block conditional entry to compete in next year's world championship.

McLaren, BMW Sauber, Toyota, Renault, Red Bull Racing, Toro Rosso and Brawn GP have all confirmed their intention to compete in 2010, seemingly bringing an end to the recent civil war with the FIA over the voluntary budget cap.

However, despite compromises on both sides in recent negotiations, the nine teams have made it clear there are stipulations attached to their entry.

A statement on behalf of the Formula One Teams' Association read: "FOTA confirms all its members' long-term commitment to be involved in the FIA Formula One World Championship and has unanimously agreed further and significant actions to substantially reduce the costs of competing in the championship in the next three years, creating a mechanism that will preserve the technological competition and the sporting challenge and, at the same time, facilitate the entry in the F1 Championship for new teams.

"These measures are in line with what has already been decided in 2009 within FOTA, achieving important saving on engines and gearboxes.

"All FOTA teams have entered the 2010 championship on the basis that:

"1) The Concorde Agreement is signed by all parties before 12th June 2009, after which all FOTA teams will commit to competing in Formula One until 2012.

"The renewal of the Concorde Agreement will provide security for the future of the sport by binding all parties in a formal relationship that will ensure stability via sound governance.

"2) The basis of the 2010 regulations will be the current 2009 regulations, amended in accordance with proposals that FOTA has submitted to the FIA.

"All FOTA teams' entries for the 2010 FIA Formula One world championship have been submitted today on the understanding that (a) all FOTA teams will be permitted to compete during the 2010 Formula One season on an identical regulatory basis and (b) that they may only be accepted as a whole.

"All FOTA teams now look forward with optimism to collaborating proactively and productively with the FIA, with a view to establishing a solid foundation on which the future of a healthy and successful Formula One can be built, providing lasting stability and sound governance."

An organisation called Brabham Grand Prix Team has applied for one of the F1 entries for 2010. The team is headed by German entrepreneur Franz Hilmer, the owner of Formtech GmbH, a machine tool business based in Niederwinkling in Germany. The company acquired many of the assets of the Super Aguri F1 team last year and will operate out of the Leafield Technical Centre, once the home of Arrows F1 and more recently Super Aguri. The technical team will be led by Mark Preston, formerly the technical director of Super Aguri and an engineer who started his F1 career at Arrows before moving to McLaren. The link with Brabham probably comes through him as he is an Australian.

PARIS (AP) - A French court on Wednesday dismissed Ferrari's bid to stop Formula One from instituting a budget cap next season.

Ferrari sought a court injunction against governing body FIA's plans to introduce a voluntary $60 million cap for racing teams from 2010, but the appeal was rejected by Judge Jacques Gondrand de Robert.

"There is no imminent damage that needs to be prevented or clearly unlawful unrest that needs to be stopped," the judge said.

Ferrari, Renault, Toyota, Red Bull and Toro Rosso have threatened to pull out of next year's championship if the cap isn't overturned.

The judge accepted Ferrari's legal right to challenge the plans but agreed with the FIA that the team should have taken its case earlier to the World Motor Sport Council.

The deadline for entering the 2010 championship is May 29, giving disgruntled teams little more than a week to find an alternate solution.

The teams are in Monaco this week for the Monaco Grand Prix.

F1 team owners met with FIA president Max Mosley and F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone in London last week but failed to resolve the dispute.

Teams that accept the budget cap will be allowed to make more technical changes to their cars than those which don't.

Teams opposing the cap have claimed that Mosley and FIA pushed through the changes without proper consultation.

Ferrari sent a team of three lawyers to a high court in Paris on Tuesday, arguing that FIA should not be able to change the rules.

The Italian team's lawyers, Emmanuel Gaillard and Henri Peter, said F1 was in danger of becoming a two-tier championship if budget caps were applied and that, with 700 employees worldwide, Ferrari is unable to reduce its budget significantly in such a short time.

The FIA insisted that the survival of F1 means cutbacks are necessary in a time of "deep financial crisis."

Ferrari is F1's most famous team, having competed in the series since its inception 60 years ago. Mosley has said Ferrari must adapt, regardless of its prestige within the sport.

"If we were to say we can't function without Ferrari they could dictate all sorts. Well, we can't have that," Mosley has said.

Aston Martin has confirmed it will enter Formula 1, Autocar magazine claims this morning.

It intends to defer its entry until 2012 but its team will begin competing from 2010 as Prodrive.

David Richards’ team has been tipped to enter F1 on two occasions in recent years. It planned an entry for 2008 using customer car regulations, but withdrew after the FIA failed to get the rules approved. Richards was also linked to a takeover of the Honda team, but backed away from a deal saying F1 was ’still too expensive’.

The team is expected to enter under the FIA budget capping rules - though those rules are expected to be modified from Max Mosley’s original proposed limit of £40m, following the initiative put forward by Mercedes.

Litespeed has announced that it intends to enter F1 in 2010 under the Team Lotus banner. The team says that a deal has been truck with David Hunt to use the name he has been trying to revive since 1995. The team has also agreed a deal to employ former Lotus F1 driver Johnny Herbert as a driver manager and commercial ambassador. The team will have a car designed by Mike Gascoyne and will operate out of the former Racing Technology Norfolk (RTN) facility in Hingham, Norfolk.

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Formula 1 teams are due to meet with FIA president Max Mosley in London today to try and reach a last-minute deal over entries for next year, AUTOSPORT has learned, with the governing body having made clear the compromises it is willing to offer.

With the entry list for the 2010 championship due to be announced by the FIA tomorrow morning, efforts are increasing to reach a resolution that will head off the threat of current manufacturer teams walking away from F1.

Although there have been suggestions in the past few days that the two sides are edging near a resolution, there still appears to be differences between the two parties about the way forward for next year.

However, AUTOSPORT has learned that Mosley is willing to soften the FIA's approach to next year - which includes scrapping a two-tier category – even though he insists a budget cap must be in place in 2010.

In a letter Mosley sent to Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo following his last meeting with teams in Monaco, a copy of which has been seen by AUTOSPORT, Mosley said that there was some ground for manoeuvre in what the FIA would be willing to accept for next year.

"We can agree that all teams race under the same 2010 rules," said Mosley, referring to the original proposal for a two-tier F1 that had been a major bone of contention for a lot of teams.

"These would be as published, but with the technical and sporting advantages originally offered to cost-cap teams deleted."

Rather than having performance benefits, the FIA said it was willing to give new teams the opportunity to work on technology transfer deals with established outfits – as has been hinted about by Frank Williams in recent days.

Mosley added: "Instead of these advantages, we will facilitate know-how transfer between certain current teams and new entrants at least for 2010 and possibly for 2011."

One thing Mosley is not willing to back down on though is the introduction of a budget cap – even if the figure is made very high for next year.

He said he was willing to propose: "A cap in 2010. This could be as high as 100 million Euros, but we must have a cap and we must have certainty... For 2011, again we must have certainty with a cap at £40 million (or if preferred 45 million Euros)."

However, Mosley said that a compromise could be introduced whereby one highly paid member of staff would be allowed to be outside the budget cap – which would help those outfits who have star names, like Adrian Newey or Ross Brawn, on board.

Furthermore, the FIA said it was willing to sign a Concorde Agreement 'broadly' along the lines of the version sent to it prior to the Monaco Grand Prix, plus a renaming of the cost cap – which has been a big issue for the teams.

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The organisers of the Le Mans 24 Hours have thrown the door open for any of Formula 1's manufacturers to compete in the French classic - and they have even been offered the chance to help shape future regulations.

F1 teams are due to meet with FIA president Max Mosley today in an attempt to reach a last-minute agreement ahead of the publication of the entry list for 2010 tomorrow morning.

Several of the manufacturers have been linked to sportscar programmes if they go through with their threats not to enter Formula 1 next year.

Piero Ferrari, son of marque founder Enzo, has mentioned Le Mans as a potential avenue for the team, and Toyota is also believed to be interested in a return to the 24 Hours 10 years after its last appearance at the event with its GT-One car.

ACO general manager Remy Brouard says Le Mans would welcome F1 manufacturers returning to sportscar racing and insists that Le Mans' governing body is open to suggestions from manufacturers on future regulations.

When asked about the number of manufacturers involved in the 24 Hours, Brouard said: "There is no ideal figure, the more the better. They [the Formula 1 teams] are welcome here. If they want to make proposals, we will listen."

Brouard would not comment on which manufacturers, if any, had been in contact with the ACO about possible entry to the event.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo will be the official starter of this year's race on Saturday, and former double world champion Fernando Alonso is also due to attend after admitting his interest in competing in the event in the future.

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Team Lotus's entry for Formula 1 next year has been submitted in full consultation with the Group Lotus company, as team sources dismissed any talk that the outfit could face legal action from the iconic sportscar brand over the use of the name.

A press release issued on Wednesday night suggested that Group Lotus and its subsidiary Lotus Cars Limited had no links with the F1 efforts and would do all it could to "protect its name, reputation and brand image." This was interpreted as a veiled threat about legal action.

However, AUTOSPORT understands that there is no suggestion of Group Lotus having any issue over the F1 team's plans - and the company has in fact been fully informed by Team Lotus about the efforts to get onto the grand prix racing grid.

One team source at the new Team Lotus outfit said: "We've kept Lotus fully informed of our intentions and are well aware of the need to protect its brand image. We look forward to having closer ties with it in the future."

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World championship leaders Brawn, plus former champions McLaren and Renault are among the teams that have been told to lift the conditions on their entry to the 2010 championship by June 19 or risk being left off the grid.

After days of intense speculation about which teams would comprise the make up for the 2010 championship, the FIA announced that of the current teams only Ferrari, Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Williams and Force India have been granted entries.

It means that Brawn, McLaren, Renault, BMW Sauber and Toyota have all been sidelined for now - pointing towards further frantic efforts to try and find a solution to the row over cost cuts.

In a statement issued by the FIA, it said: "These five teams have submitted conditional entries.The FIA has invited them to lift those conditions following further discussions to be concluded not later than close of business on Friday 19 June."

The inclusion of Ferrari and the two Red Bull teams is also a bone of contention, with the outfits likely to claim that they could only be entered if the conditions attached to their applications to race were met.

The FIA, however, believes the teams committed several years ago when they signed deals with the governing body and Formula One Management tying themselves to the sport.

The list also confirmed that three new teams had been granted an entry - Campos Grand Prix, Manor Grand Prix and Team US F1.

Should any of the five current teams not make the cut, then the FIA is evaluating further entries being added.

AUTOSPORT understands there are three or four other teams who are close to being granted entries, and dialogue is still ongoing.

Campos Grand Prix is being run by former grand prix driver Adrian Campos, with Team US F1 headed by Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor.

AUTOSPORT understands the new Manor Grand Prix team is headed by F3 team boss John Booth and former grand prix team owner Nick Wirth.

Team Constructor
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari
Scuderia Toro Rosso STR TBA
Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing TTBA
At&T Williams Williams Toyota
Force India F1 Team Force India Mercedes
Campos Grand Prix Campos Cosworth
Manor Grand Prix Manor Cosworth
Team US F1 Team US F1 Cosworth
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes* McLaren Mercedes
BMW Sauber F1 Team* BMW Sauber
Renault F1 Team* Renault
Panasonic Toyota Racing* Toyota
Brawn GP Formula One Team* Brawn TBA

* These five teams have submitted conditional entries.The FIA has invited them to lift those conditions following further discussions to be concluded not later than close of business on Friday 19 June.

The maximum number of cars permitted to enter the 2010 Championship has been increased to 26, two being entered by each competitor. Pending completion of the discussions referred to above, further due diligence is currently taking place on other potential entries.

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Ferrari has made it clear that it will not compete in next year's world championship unless the conditions it attached to its entry are met by the governing body.

The Maranello-based outfit was included on the official 2010 entry list because the FIA believes the team committed itself to racing in F1 as part of deals signed with the governing body and the FIA several years ago.

However, Ferrari insists that the terms of the agreement it made in the past have been breached by the FIA - which means it cannot be forced to race.

In a statement issued on Friday morning, Ferrari insisted that it will not compete next year unless it is satisfied with the rules in place.

"Ferrari submitted on 29 May 2009 an entry to the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship which is subject to certain conditions," said the statement. "As of today, these conditions have not been met.

"Notwithstanding this and despite Ferrari's previous written notice to the FIA not to do so, the FIA has included Ferrari as an unconditional participant in next year's Formula One World Championship.

"For the avoidance of any doubt, Ferrari reaffirms that it shall not take part in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship under the regulations adopted by the FIA in violation of Ferrari's rights under a written agreement with the FIA."

The FIA has told the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) that it finds its attempts to take over the regulations of F1 and get control of commercial rights as unacceptable, as it explained why it will not back down on a budget cap.

With tensions mounting between the governing body and FOTA over cost-cut control and future governance of the sport, the FIA issued a lengthy press statement on Tuesday explaining its stance.

It claims that the efforts made by itself and Formula One Management in making the sport one of the most popular in the world will not be wasted by what the teams want.

"The FIA and FOM have together spent decades building the FIA Formula One World Championship into the most watched motor sport competition in history," it said.

"In light of the success of the FIA's Championship, FOTA - made up of participants who come and go as it suits them – has set itself two clear objectives: to take over the regulation of Formula 1 from the FIA and to expropriate the commercial rights for itself. These are not objectives which the FIA can accept."