Motor Sport Formula OneFormula One teams have embraced sweeping rule changes proposed by the sport's governing body to make the sport more exciting and competitive, Justin Hynes reports.
The new rules, originally designed for implementation in 2008, could be brought in as soon as the 2006 season after team principals, some of whom were expected to stall on the issue, agreed in principle to the remodelling at a meeting with International Automobile Federation (FIA) president Max Mosley and commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone in Monaco yesterday.
The core changes, which represent a revolution in how the sport will be presented, involve reducing engine size from 3.0 litre V10s to 2.4 V8 engines; banning all electronic drivers' aids in a bid to put the car back in control of the driver; using a single tyre manufacturer working to a single specification to FIA standards, and the possible return to slick tyres; massive control or a ban on testing, and the use of some common components across the teams cars, such as engine management systems.
What is not clear, however, is the future of Mosley's initial proposal to allow smaller teams to buy their chassis from other teams. The move could have major implications from teams such as Jordan and Minardi, allowing them to purchase competitive chassis from Ferrari or McLaren, thus giving them a more level platform on which to compete against teams with vastly bigger budgets.
While Mosley said the matter had been discussed, he added that reservations had been expressed by some of the major teams and no agreement had been reached.
A new qualifying format may also be implemented before next year after the teams agreed the back-to-back single-lap system introduced this season has failed.
"It was a very good meeting," said Mosley. "Where I had expected very significant dispute and debate there really was none and it was very constructive. We went through all of the proposals and discussed them with the teams in some detail, and as far as doing things sooner than 2008 there was a wide measure of agreement that we need changes much sooner.
"I think we are going to see a new engine formula in 2006.
"It will make Formula One more interesting, there will be closer racing and more overtaking. The basic idea is to make the racing closer and more interesting for the fans, because that is what they want to see."
Aside from the bid to arrest a perceived decline in the sport's popularity, yesterday's meeting was also an exercise in brinkmanship for Mosley and the FIA.
Formula One's teams, the governing body and the sport's commercial rights holder, Ecclestone, are governed by a 22-year-old Concorde Agreement which includes codification of the sport and also, critically, the manner in which the sport's profits are generated. That agreement runs out in 2007 and the future of the sport after that has been the subject of speculation.
In a bid to wrest more control of the sport and its finances from Ecclestone and the FIA, the major motor manufacturer teams had, under an umbrella organisation, the Grand Prix World Championship (GPWC), threatened a breakaway series.
Mosley's introduction of radical proposals for the post-Concorde running of the sport in 2008, which could be brought in regardless of team approval, was designed, in part, to force the hand of the GPWC, causing either rift or repair.
But as the smaller teams weighed in behind the FIA and as support within the manufacturer-backed teams' group for "civil war" flagged, resistance to the changes withered and it appears the majority of teams agreed to Mosley's proposals, a move which, in effect, nullifies the GPWC threat for good.
After yesterday's meeting, Flavio Briatore, team principal of Renault, described the meeting as "one of the best meetings of recent years", while BAR boss David Richards added "there were a lot of very sensible proposals put forward and, hopefully, a timetable that will see us have a strong future".
