links for 2009-06-24
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"Max Mosley will not seek re-election in October when his current term expires. In the meantime he has relinquished his position as the main contact man at the FIA for F1. Instead the FIA Senate will deal with any issues in F1. Mosley is a member of the Senate and, under FIA rules, he will remain a member in future as an ex president. There is a sense here that if this deal were to fall through then Mosley would be on hand to take up the FIA’s side again. Meanwhile there will be an election for a new FIA president in due course."
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"He has done a very good fix of the problem. When you have reached an agreement, everyone has to help in the same way."
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"I am pleased that FOTA's proposals have been endorsed and approved by the WMSC today. This will ensure that we move forward on the basis of stable, proper governance and this will ensure an outcome which is very good news for all of F1's many stakeholders.
"This has been a challenging period but thanks to the unity of the FOTA teams and the foresight of the World Motor Sport Council members, we have achieved the right result for F1.
"We look forward to working with the FIA Senate to achieve a prosperous and exciting future for F1 and its millions of fans around the world."
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"There isn't much time to write just now. The main thing is that Max has agreed to go. He will not stand for re-election in October and will not play any further part in the administration of Formula One. He will also leave the FIA in October and will not assume a role in the Senate. His role on the stage of world motorsport is finally over.
"How it came about is not completely clear. The main levers were the paucity of teams left in the FIA/Formula One fold, the increasing pressure on Bernie from CVC and the steady pressure brought on Max by Fota. The impression I have is that Max, Bernie and Luca Di Montezemolo met to broker the deal and – amazingly – the crisis is genuinely over."
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"The deal between the FIA and FOTA was confirmed on Wednesday afternoon, when the FIA announced that its planned budget cap for 2010 had been scrapped, and instead FOTA-proposed cost-cutting regulations will be introduced.
"In a bid to help new teams, technical assistance will be offered to Campos Meta, Manor Grand Prix and Team US F1 by major outfits."
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"From what we hear the deal was hammered out last night in Paris between Mosley, Bernie Ecclestone and FOTA president Luca di Montezomolo. He must have heard things that made him happy to agree without needing to consult his troops. That in itself js an interesting reflection on what occurred.
"When all is said and done, however, the news is positive. The sport can get on with dealing with the recession and the problems of funding. There may be political peace for a period but no doubt discussions will soon begin on the financial structures that will take the sport on after 2012. We are hearing that Monaco’s Michel Boeri will take over all F1 negotiations with immediate effect."
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"However, he has always maintained that upon his retirement he will be moving on to the FIA Senate and the issue of his successor will be of great interest now, with ex Ferrari boss Jean Todt always considered a candidate. Stability of rules and the re-introduction of the F1 commision in the rule making process will have been a central part of what Montezemolo negotiated.
"Thus whoever becomes the new FIA president in October they will play an intrinsic part in the next stage of Formula 1. The teams will be looking for a completely different style of governance and it will be interesting to see what the FIA comes up with."
If Max is moving to the FIA Senate, he will continue to run the show Putin-style.
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"Hockenheim City Council – a 94 per cent shareholder in the track – has voted unanimously to drop the race, according to the Deutsche Presse Agentur, although it is understood that should Bernie Ecclestone be willing to negotiate a cheaper deal, the race could continue in 2010 – the final year of its current F1 contract."
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"There will be no split. We have agreed to a reduction of costs. There will be one F1 championship but the objective is to get back to the spending levels of the early 90s within two years."
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"FOTA is not averse to the FIA, nor is it averse to Ecclestone. All it wants to see is a new system of governance and a fairer distribution of revenue. Mosley currently stands in the way of the first of these demands, and until that is resolved there will be no movement. The breakaway will remain.
"Which is why today’s meeting in Paris will be so important."
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Keith talks about his trip with Shell
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I love these contributions from Ted Kravitz. Give him is own blog now!
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Preview to today's WMSC meeting.
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"Why is F1 so arrogant as to think that its World Champion will be the only one. The FIA may claim the right to nominate World Champions, but from where does that right come? From the acceptance that the federation is the right organisation to run a World Championship? Is this a right to which no-one else has any claim? As I mentioned yesterday, why is the FIA of the opinion that it is the only organisation allowed to run World Championships? CART used to run its Indycar “World Series”. A1GP runs the World Cup of Motorsport.
"When one boils the whole thing down, what gives the FIA the right to represent the world’s motorists? Tradition? Yes, perhaps, but if more than half the FIA membership were to go to a new federation, who would have the right then? There are many questions riding on the decision coming this week."
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Yet another brilliant video from Red Bull. Via the red bullog
