‘The
FIA will enter into a wide-ranging consultation with the Formula 1 teams to examine plans for improved efficiency, including new technical regulations for the championship,' read a subsequent FIA statement. ‘This will also involve a review of the governance of
Formula 1.
‘Applications from teams wishing to compete in the 2009 championship must be submitted to the FIA during the period 1 to 31 July 2008 inclusive. The team entry fee for the 2009 championship will be €309,000 (the 2008 fee plus a three per cent increase in-line with inflation).
‘The FIA will launch a consultation with the Formula 1 teams for the introduction of further fees to cover improved safety systems and equipment at every grand prix.'
Despite having previously suggested in an interview with
The Times that a breakaway grand prix championship was far from an impossibility, Ecclestone told
The Associated Press following yesterday's discussions: “I don't know anything about a breakaway championship, to be honest with you; nobody's ever talked about one.”
According to
The Times, the fact that application deadline for 2009 entries has been brought forward ‘without warning' to 31 July is Mosley's ‘way of heading off the threat of a breakaway'.
Ecclestone, however, was keen to brush off suggestions of a stand-off between the two men. The sport's ringmaster made a number of calls for Mosley to resign in the wake of the
News of the World's damning revelations, and recently warned that the politically-focussed FIA has no right to interfere in commercial matters, insisting: “The money doesn't belong to Max; it doesn't belong to him to touch.”
“Nothing has ever changed between Max and I,” the 77-year-old told
The Associated Press. “We've been friends for 40 years. You don't lose friendship like that.”
