Ferrari isolated as teams vote to make Ecclestone wait

Motor sport/Formula One agreement: Ferrari were left isolated yesterday as the only Formula One team to have signed up to Bernie Ecclestone's so-called Concorde agreement, after the other nine teams decided not to rush into a new agreement with the sport's commercial rights holder.

Those teams are determined to wait until next month to see what counter-proposals will be offered by GPWC, the alliance of motor manufacturers which is threatening to run a separate world championship from 2008. Ferrari had earlier issued a statement which seemed designed to tempt the other nine teams to sign a new deal. A week ago the Italian team turned its back on the GPWC after being promised a reputed $100 million (€77.1 million) extra from Ecclestone for the following five years.

Ferrari also said that in July 2004 they had informed the other members of GPWC that, as from August 1st of that year, they would not be bound exclusively to the GPWC, though they would remain part of it.

Yesterday Ferrari said: "As a result of what was established in the agreement announced on the 19th of this month, the new version of the Concorde agreement will come into effect from 2005 on the revenues owed to the signatories thereof." This hinted that the other teams could benefit from similar largesse from Ecclestone, but at a meeting held at a Heathrow hotel the teams did not get involved in debating the sport's finances.

Instead they attempted to slow the rush towards a new Formula One order, both commercially and technically, by asking motor racing's governing body, the FIA, to postpone a meeting planned for Friday which had been scheduled to discuss technical regulations and cost-cutting measures for 2008.

In a letter signed by Ecclestone and the nine team principals present in Ferrari's absence, they told the FIA that "it is premature to discuss the measures you have put forward. Cost-cutting proposals should be evaluated in the wider context of the sport's appeal to its fans.

"We anticipate we will be in a position to bring our collective proposals to the FIA by mid-season, allowing sufficient time to consult all parties and reach an appropriate conclusion by the end of the year."

However, this request was denied by Max Mosley, the FIA president. "The meeting will go ahead," said an FIA spokesman. "Our objective is to ensure that all the teams have an opportunity to express their opinions in addition to the four teams - Ferrari, BAR, Renault and Williams - who have already submitted (individual) proposals."