As the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) announced the radical new rules for next season’s World Championship yesterday, Mosley came under fire from Luca Di Montezemolo, the Ferrari president, but there are no indications that he is going to change his mind and he can watch and wait with some confidence as the deadline for entries for the 2010 season arrives on May 29.
At Ferrari, as at some of the other big teams, there is considerable nervousness about enforcing a cap and about a “two-tier” championship developing, with cars running under separate rules. This may well happen.
But Mosley is prepared to gamble that most of the existing teams, and any new teams that enter the field in 2010, will accept his capping regime and that, after perhaps one season when Ferrari and possibly one other outfit will try to continue spending a fortune, everyone will come into line.
Mosley summarised his case yesterday in a letter to the Ferrari president, which was leaked to The Times. “We are confident (as are our accountants and lawyers) that a budget cap will be enforceable,” it read.
“The cleverest team will win and we would eliminate the need for depressing restrictions on technology which the existing teams are discussing with a view to reducing costs. I hope Ferrari will take the lead in agreeing the cost-cap mechanism, thus freeing its engineers to work and preserving its shareholders’ money.”
In its announcement, the WMSC clarified much of the detail of what amounts to a revolution for Formula One. To start with, the £40 million headline figure is up on the £30 million originally announced by Mosley in mid-March, a recognition by the FIA president of the difficulty that teams used to spending huge sums will face. For some of the biggest spenders, the new regime will lead to considerable redundancies, something that the FIA regards as a necessary evil if the sport is not to go to the wall.
The cap is quite loose in other ways. Driver salaries are not included, so men such as Lewis Hamilton, the defending drivers’ champion, can carry on earning £15 million a year. Nor are marketing and hospitality budgets, which can run to tens of millions of pounds, nor the cost of fines and penalties, nor engine costs for 2010 or “any expenditure which a team can demonstrate has no influence on its performance in the championship”.
Apart from saving money and trying to keep the sport alive, Mosley is also intent on encouraging new teams to come into the sport. With that in mind, the FIA has extended the grid for next year from 24 to 26 cars and Bernie Ecclestone, the sport’s commercial rights-holder, has agreed to offer participation fees and expenses to new teams. These include an annual payment of $10 million (about £6.75 million) each, plus free transportation of two chassis and associated kit for each race outside Europe.
The budget cap will be enforced by a new “Costs Commission”, made up of a chairman and two commissioners appointed by the WMSC for three years. The FIA says that the commission will “appoint auditors and other financial experts as required”, but also that it expects a “healthy amount of self-policing”.
If the cap fits...
What is the cap set at? £40 million for 2010
Is it voluntary? Yes
What is not included in the cap? Driver and test driver salaries, marketing and hospitality budgets, payment of fines and penalties, engine costs for 2010 only, other expenditure not related to on-track performance and dividends on profits from competing.
What other rule changes come into force in 2010? Refuelling during races will be forbidden and tyre blankets will be banned.
What will be the penalty for a team that exceeds the cost cap? This depends on the case and there are no “fixed penalities”. The new “Costs Commission” will judge the degree of misdemeanour and advise the FIA, which will determine the penalty.
Click
No comments:
Post a Comment