Tyranny Wins Out over Good! Formula One Teams sign Concorde Agreement.

So in a "not surprising" move the 2010 class of Formula One Teams have ratified the Concorde Agreement, guaranteeing their allegiance to the Dark Side, I mean the FIA through 2012. As part of the agreement the teams have agreed to voluntary cost reductions that will bring spending to "early 1990's" levels. Sure tyranny is bad, except when your sleeping with the tyrant.

Statement from FOTA follows:

"Signed by all Formula One teams, with the only exception of BMW Sauber AG, the FIA, and Formula One Administration (FOA), Concorde 2009 lays down the commercial and regulatory guidelines for Formula One whilst guaranteeing the teams’ until the end of the 2012 season.

"FOTA will support any initiative which would allow BMW Sauber AG to reapply for full participation within the new Concorde Agreement.

"All Formula One teams have together reached a voluntary agreement on their own, which will put into practice FOTA’s long-standing objective gradually to reduce overall spending, eventually to around the levels of the early 1990s.

"The terms of Concorde 2009 will reinvigorate the role of the Formula One Commission, and various other Working Groups. The Formula One Commission will henceforth be a key decision-making body for change in Formula One.

"FOTA’s attention will now turn to other issues we believe to be in the long-term interest of F1: racing at the best tracks, in front of the biggest audiences and expanding F1’s reach."

In the interest of providing "fair and balanced" coverage I thought that you might enjoy this homage to the FIA/FOTA battle courtesy of Theratterdot com. Enjoy!

Game On - FIA and FOTA battle continues - No really!

Formula One's fragile peace was once again broken after Ferrari and seven other teams walked out of a meeting in Germany with the governing body over next year's rules. In a further case of he said/she said, the FIA reports that..."The eight FOTA (Formula One Teams Association) teams were invited to attend the meeting to discuss their further proposals for 2010," "Unfortunately, no discussion was possible because FOTA walked out of the meeting."

FOTA, who had threatened to set up their own breakaway series until what seemed to be a breakthrough deal was announced in Paris last month, said in a statement that Formula One's future was again in jeopardy.

With the two parties supposedly meeting to confirm the technical and sporting rules for next year's World Championship on Wednesday - which was due to include the lack of a budget cap but an aim to reduce spending levels to 1990s levels - FOTA has released a statement explaining its full reasons for why its eight members (each current team, with the exception of William and Force India) decided to depart the meeting.

With the FIA claiming on Wednesday that the eight FOTA teams are not yet fully entered to next year's championship - and therefore unable to request changes to proposed FIA rules - FOTA has responded by stating its feelings that rules have already been discussed between the two parties during a Paris meeting in April and furthermore that the FIA's latest actions have compromised the future of the sport.

The FOTA statement reads:

'Representatives of all FOTA teams attended a meeting of the Sporting Working Group at the Nürburgring today.

During the course of this meeting, the team managers were informed by Mr Charlie Whiting of the FIA that, contrary to previous agreements, the eight FOTA teams are not currently entered into the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship and have no voting rights in relation to the technical and sporting regulations thereof.

It will be remembered that all eight active FOTA members were included on the "accepted" entry list as endorsed by the FIA World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) and communicated by FIA press statement on June 24.

In light of these claims, the FOTA representatives requested a postponement of today's meetings. This was rejected on the grounds that no new Concorde Agreement would be permitted before a unanimous approval of the 2010 regulations was achieved.

However, it is clear to the FOTA teams that the basis of the 2010 technical and sporting regulations was already established in Paris.

As endorsed by the WMSC and clearly stated in the FIA press statement of 24 June "the rules for 2010 onwards will be the 2009 regulations as well as further regulations agreed prior to 29 April 2009". At no point in the Paris discussions was any requirement for unanimous agreement on regulations change expressed. To subsequently go against the will of the WMSC and the detail of the Paris agreement puts the future of Formula 1 in jeopardy.

As a result of these statements, the FOTA representatives at the subsequent Technical Working Group were not able to exercise their rights and therefore had no option other than to terminate their participation.

The FOTA members undertook the Paris agreement and the subsequent discussions in good faith and with a desire to engage with all new and existing teams on the future of Formula One.'

FIA/FOTA Battle Ended - Let the Healing Begin!

While I think that it was the "Hitler on Formula One (Breakaway Series)..." video that finally did it, apparently the FIA and FOTA have reached an accord and are planning on playing well together for the 2010 season. Apparently one of the terms of the agreement is that Max Mosley will not apply for an additional term with the FIA. It will be interesting to see if this is really the end of this spat between the teams, Max and Bernie. Only time will tell.

Story from CNN International follows.

(CNN) -- Max Mosley, the president of motorsport's world governing body the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), has said there "will be a unified Formula One championship in 2010."

The statement comes after Mosley spoke to the FIA's World Motor Sport Council and the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA), at the governing body's headquarters in Paris.

It seems FOTA, as the representitive of all eight teams that had threatened to set up a rival series, have settled their differences with the controversial racing boss.

Mosley has confirmed a new cost-cutting agreement has been reached with those concerned which has ensured next season's Championship will include the eight breakaway teams - Ferrari, McLaren, BMW Sauber, Renault, Toyota, Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Brawn GP.

"There will be one F1 championship but the objective is to get back to the spending levels of the early 90s within two years," Mosley told a press conference.

It also appears the 69-year-old has now agreed to move aside when his fourth term as FIA president ends in October, saying: "I will not be up for re-election, now we have peace."

Mosley had previously maintained the decision of who should be president should reside solely with the members of the FIA despite growing pressure from the rebel teams for a new man to take charge.

Formula One supremo and sole commerical rights holder Bernie Ecclestone said he was "very happy common sense had prevailed" according to The Times.

The FIA announced on the June 19 they intended to sue the eight teams who had threatened to form a new, alternative championship for breach of contract.

Today's announcement could bring to an end an eight-week disagreement, that has threatened to tear apart the sport, which centered on proposals to introduce a $60 million budget cap for all teams competing in the next campaign.

Though the FIA hoped such plans will make the grid more balanced and easier for the smaller teams to compete successfully, FOTA had complained the wishes of the majority of teams to introduce the plans over a greater length of time had been "ignored."

"Furthermore, tens of millions of dollars have been withheld from many teams by the commercial rights holder, going back as far as 2006," FOTA added in a statement on its official Web site.

FIA / FOTA Battle Continues - Max, Bernie and the Teams have killed Hitler

Given Mox Mosley's proclivities for uniforms we had to guess that this wouldn't be too long inb coming. Enjoy!

The FIA Empire Strikes Back - Threatens Legal Action Against FOTA

The Dark Lord, ahem, I mean Max Mosley speaks out about the rebel alliance, I mean FOTA's decision to break-away from Formula One and threatens legal actions, "without delay". I'm not totally certain what Mr. Mosley is thinking here, but I'm guessing that between BMW, Toyota, Renault, Red Bull and Mercedes/McLaren, they might be able to find enough lawyers to drag this battle into perpetuity, and although the auto industry isn't exactly having their best sales year ever, I don't think I'd want to get into a bleeding contest with companies that have spent between $250M and $475M a year to race cars.

FIA press release follows.

The FIA’s lawyers have now examined the FOTA threat to begin a breakaway series. The actions of FOTA as a whole, and Ferrari in particular, amount to serious violations of law including wilful interference with contractual relations, direct breaches of Ferrari's legal obligations and a grave violation of competition law. The FIA will be issuing legal proceedings without delay.

Preparations for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship continue but publication of the final 2010 entry list will be put on hold while the FIA asserts its legal rights.

So I guess that they weren't kidding - FOTA pulls out of Formula One

So in the ultimate iteration of "my ball, my basket", the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) has announced that they are leaving F1 to develop "... a new Championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners." This move has been a long time coming and unfortunately the FIA didn't pay much attention to the CART/IRL battle that destroyed open-wheel racing in America. While the IRL ultimately won, it was only because CART ran out of manufactures to finance the effort. In this case it appears that the manufactures are the ones leaving the building. I'm sure that there's more to come.

The FOTA press release follows.

FOTA UNITED ON THE FUTURE

Silverstone, 18 June 2009 - Since the formation of FOTA last September the teams have worked together and sought to engage the FIA and commercial rights holder, to develop and improve the sport.

Unprecedented worldwide financial turmoil has inevitably placed great challenges before the F1 community. FOTA is proud that it has achieved the most substantial measures to reduce costs in the history of our sport.

In particular the manufacturer teams have provided assistance to the independent teams, a number of which would probably not be in the sport today without the FOTA initiatives. The FOTA teams have further agreed upon a substantial voluntary cost reduction that provides a sustainable model for the future.

Following these efforts all the teams have confirmed to the FIA and the commercial rights holder that they are willing to commit until the end of 2012.

The FIA and the commercial rights holder have campaigned to divide FOTA.

The wishes of the majority of the teams are ignored. Furthermore, tens of millions of dollars have been withheld from many teams by the commercial rights holder, going back as far as 2006. Despite this and the uncompromising environment, FOTA has genuinely sought compromise.

It has become clear however, that the teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 World Championship.

These teams therefore have no alternative other than to commence the preparation for a new Championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners. This series will have transparent governance, one set of regulations, encourage more entrants and listen to the wishes of the fans, including offering lower prices for spectators worldwide, partners and other important stakeholders.

The major drivers, stars, brands, sponsors, promoters and companies historically associated with the highest level of motorsport will all feature in this new series.