F1 ringmaster Ecclestone turns peacemaker as Renault join Ferrari in quit threat
By
Jonathan McEvoy Motor Racing Correspondent
Last updated at 8:56 AM on 15th May 2009
Bernie Ecclestone has cast himself in the role of mediator after Formula One’s precarious future took another damaging twist yesterday when Renault joined Ferrari in threatening to leave the sport unless the budget cap planned for next season is scrapped.
The rebels are opposed to the two-tier championship which would result from the optional £40million cap imposed by the FIA.
They are also furious about the dictatorial approach of the ruling body’s president Max Mosley.
Renault team principal Flavio Briatore, a co-owner of QPR football club along with Ecclestone, said: ‘We refuse to accept unilateral governance handed out by the FIA. If their decisions are not revised we have no choice but to withdraw from Formula One at the end of 2009.’
A word in your shell-like: Ferrari General Director Stefano Domenicali chats with Ecclestone
The matter will be discussed at a meeting in London tomorrow which, it has emerged,
has been set up at Ecclestone’s behest.
He is certain to be a key figure in the deliberations. Commercial supremo Ecclestone, keen to preserve the standing of a sport which has made him a billionaire, recognises
that winning over Ferrari will almost certainly bring the other malcontents on side.
Last night he turned diplomat, saying: ‘The key to F1 is Ferrari. They have been there for 60 years. They are partners of ours. They are the people we need to take into consideration. At the moment everyone is hanging on to their apron strings. Sort that
out and we will be OK.’
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Comments (3)
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below, or debate this issue live on our message boards.
Take away all the rules and regulations and tell them the winner is the car which goes the fastest and crosses the line first. It's an old fashioned idea, I accept, but it used to be known as 'having a race'.
We haven't had that for a few years now, not since the days of Mansell and Senna tearing around Monaco - I still remember it to this day.
Capping expenditure simply makes the cars even more similar and will not make it more exciting.
Ecclestone: "(Ferrari)...are partners of ours" - So that's official, then, what the F in FIA stands for? This whole fiasco is probably a set-up between the FIA and Ferrari to deflect claims that they're biased against McLaren and towards Ferrari. It'll all blow over just in time for next year's season.
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......Ecclestone trying to preserve the Golden Goose more like...
- mayfair, london, 14/5/2009 11:11