FIA–FOTA dispute
The FIA–FOTA dispute was a series of political clashes between the
Introduction and pre-history
The origins of the dispute may be traced as far back as the middle of 2008 when regulations that would see the single biggest overhaul in the sport's sixty-year history were approved for the 2009 season. Early in 2009, FIA President
In response to this, Ferrari filed an injunction with a French court in Paris in an attempt to stop the proposed regulations from being implemented. The courts ruled that Ferrari's objections were baseless; given its history and close association with the sport, the team had been awarded a technical veto a decade beforehand that would have allowed them to prevent any regulation changes they disagreed with, but the court ruled that as Ferrari had not used the veto at the previous meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council, they did not have grounds for a legal challenge.
FOTA's objections and withdrawal
Seven of the FOTA teams –
The ten FOTA teams met on the weekend of the
New teams for 2010
Concurrently to this, the FIA intended to open the 2010 grid up to three new teams, and received entries from fifteen interested parties, including
On June 16, the FIA announced its intentions to continue ahead with the budget cap, now raised to €45 million (which was about $62.4 million in 2020) after talks with FOTA once again failed to find a resolution. Claiming that a solution had been put forth a week previously, the FIA accused factions within FOTA of sabotaging the negotiations, and further claimed that the organisation was attempting to gain control over the governance and commercial rights to the sport, a practice it declared unacceptable.
Threat of breakaway series
In the week preceding the British Grand Prix, the eight remaining FOTA teams wrote to the FIA, calling for an urgent compromise to the situation and requesting an extension to the deadline in order to negotiate a new Concorde Agreement. The letter made it clear that the FOTA teams were willing to commit until 2012 and supply new teams with technical knowledge and advice. The FIA replied within two hours, indicating that it was willing to deal with FOTA, but stated that the June 19 deadline would stand owing to obligations to the potential new teams and the inability to agree on a new Concorde Agreement in such a short period of time. Mosley's proposal would see the introduction of a budget cap, engine and gearbox rules remaining fixed and the allowance of tyre warmers which were previously expected to be banned for 2010. In addition, Mosley stated a willingness to review the FIA's International Court of Appeal and abandon a controversial appendix to the 2010 rules that would give the FIA the unconditional authority to set rules.
However, after a meeting at Renault's base of operations in
Overall, fan opinion polls at the time showed overall support for the breakaway series with a Sky Sport poll showing that 91% of Italian fans would support FOTA's potential breakaway series and a Network 10 poll showing more than 65% of respondents supporting the New FOTA series over Formula One.[12]
The conflict came to an apparent head on June 24 at the meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Paris, with FOTA agreeing to remain within the championship and FIA President Max Mosley agreeing not to stand for re-election in October.
Further complications
On 8 July, the FOTA group of teams walked out of a meeting with the FIA about future rules.[15] FOTA were informed that they were not entered for the 2010 season and could therefore have no input on regulatory discussions.[16] It was later announced that plans for a breakaway series were still being pursued.[17] However, on the weekend of the German Grand Prix, FOTA teams expressed confidence in ending the ongoing debate, stating their intentions to negotiate the terms of a new Concorde Agreement directly with CVC, the company that controls the commercial rights to the sport, with a resolution possibly being found in time for the Hungarian Grand Prix.[18] Later that same day, Bernie Ecclestone announced that he would be involved in the process and vowed to have the sport's future secured with a new Concorde Agreement signed within forty-eight hours, ending the breakaway threat,[19] and on July 15, it was confirmed that Max Mosley would step down from the FIA Presidency.
On July 6, an unnamed team made accusations against the FIA that new teams had been selected on the basis that they had no association with the current manufacturers. On July 12, unsuccessful applicants N.Technology filed a legal challenge against the FIA in Paris, claiming they had been informed that the only way to receive an entry for 2010 was to nominate the use of a Cosworth spec-engine when the team felt it stood a "real chance" of securing a deal with a current engine supplier.[20] The case was heard on October 13, with the decision released on November 10, the French courts rejecting N.Technology's claims.[21]
2009 Concorde Agreement and BMW's withdrawal
On the weekend of the
On 29 July 2009
Zoran Stefanovic and the European Commission
Following N.Technology's lawsuit against the FIA, a complaint was made to the European Commission by Zoran Stefanovic, an aspiring team principal supporting N.Technology's claims that the FIA had required new teams to nominate a Cosworth engine if they wanted to join the 2010 grid.[26] Stefanovic had intended to field a team to be known as Stefan Grand Prix and that he had explored the possibility of acquiring engines from a current manufacturer. His complaint to the European Commission claimed that the FIA demonstrated bias in the selection process and was in violation of anti-competition laws, and he requested that the selection process be carried out again.
Stefanovic had attempted to enter Formula One on two previous occasions,
Despite Stefanovic's planned action against, he announced his intentions to field a team in time for the season-opening race in
Aftermath
In the end the budget cap rules did not enter into Formula One for the 2010 season and BMW and Toyota would ultimately leave Formula One, with BMW Sauber turning into just Sauber which ran cars with Ferrari engines in Toyota's former grid spot until 2018 when it became
See also
- FISA–FOCA war, a similar disagreement between the sport's governing body and its participants in the early 1980s.
- FIM–IRTA war, a similar disagreement between Grand Prix motorcycle racing's governing body and its participants in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
References
- ^ "BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula 1 | F1 chiefs stay firm on budget cap". BBC News. 2009-05-19. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
- Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
- Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-05-25.
- Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
- Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
- ^ "BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula 1 | Ferrari stay firm over budget cap". BBC News. 2009-05-31. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
- Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
- ^ "Renault warns suppliers of F1 exit". GP Update. 2009-06-10. Retrieved 2011-02-01.
- Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- ^ Panzariu, Ovidiu (2009-06-24). "Fan Survey Shows Overwhelming FOTA Support". autoevolution. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
- Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- ^ Straw, Edd (2009-11-10). "French courts reject N.Technology's claims". Autosport.com. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
- ^ Jonathan Noble, Autosport.com (2009-07-24). "Concorde dependent upon cost-cutting deal". Retrieved 2009-07-25.
- ^ "Teams give details of 'cost regulation document'". Motorsport.com. GMM. 24 July 2009. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ^ "BMW to quit F1 at end of season". BBC. 2009-07-29. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
- ^ Beer, Matt; Autosport.com (2009-08-01). "New Concorde Agreement finally signed". Retrieved 2009-08-01.
- ^ "European Commission receives F1 complaint". Pitpass. 2009-08-01. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
- ^ a b Collantine, Keith; F1 Fanatic (2009-08-02). "Zoran Stefanovic explains his complaint to the EU about the FIA". Retrieved 2009-08-03.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Collantine, Keith (2009-09-21). "Stefan Grand Prix want 2010 slot". Retrieved 2009-09-21.
- ^ "FIA calls for 14 teams in 2010". GP Update. 2009-09-15. Retrieved 2011-02-01.
- ^ "Examples from Formula 1 and IndyCar show similar blueprint for 'Super League'". www.gpblog.com. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
- ^ "The 2021 F1 cost cap explained – what has changed, and why? | Formula 1®". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
- ^ "New F1 squads must now pay existing teams $200m to enter". The Race. 2020-09-12. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
- ^ "New teams must pay $200m to existing constructors to enter F1". RACER. 2020-09-12. Retrieved 2021-04-21.