budget cap

Flying in the face of the opinions expressed by both Ferrari and BMW over the past week, Ross Brawn has thrown his support behind the FIA's new optional ?40 million budget cap in Formula 1, warning that without it the top flight risks 'turning [engineers] into Swiss watchmakers' - but equally und

Mercedes-Benz has received 'several enquiries' about its KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems) technology in Formula 1, Norbert Haug has revealed - with reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton praising it for having 'performed fantastically through all the races'.

Newly-crowned A1GP Champion Adam Carroll has challenged Formula 1 teams to take a punt on his services in 2010, by insisting: I can fight for the world championship!

Barely a year on from his withdrawal from a sport he emotionally described as 'a piranha club', Aguri Suzuki has revealed that Super Aguri could be in-line for a shock return to competition in the top flight in Formula 1's new 'low-cost' era in 2010.

Ferrari has criticised Formula 1's new optional budget cap as 'fundamentally unfair and perhaps even biased' and as being liable to create a two-tier, split-level championship of haves and have-nots - as Luca di Montezemolo hinted that the team's participation is 'not a never-ending story'.

Already well-known for his desire to broaden Formula 1's scope in terms of the countries it visits, Bernie Ecclestone now appears keen to reach out to more culturally and ethnically diverse audiences too in proclaiming that what the sport needs most of all is 'a female driver who is black and Jew

Max Mosley has all-but admitted that the new 'optional' budget cap to be available to Formula 1 teams from next year onwards may disadvantage those competitors that choose to sign up to it, as 'highly-organised, unlimited-expenditure teams are perhaps likely to do a better job of going racing'.

There will be an 'option' for Formula 1 teams to adhere to a strict budget cap of ?30 million as of next year - but no official requirement for them to do so, the FIA has announced following the World Motor Sport Council reunion in Paris today (Tuesday).