Formula One news
Brawn vows to stay with FOTA
07 June 2009Ross Brawn has placed his full support in the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) as discussions continue to find an answer to the ongoing issues between teams and the FIA. The Brawn GP team owner, who worked closely with the board in order to sustain the future of the former Honda team, has vowed not to break his partnership with the association amid difficult times for Formula One.
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FOTA met with the Grands Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) at Istanbul Park on Sunday morning as talks continue with a view to finding a solution, with nine current teams facing an exit from F1 unless the FIA removes its €45m budget cap option for next year.
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| Teams and drivers met in Turkey on Sunday morning |
In the case of Williams and Force India, however, both teams were missing from the meeting as a result of already having put forward fixed, unconditional entries to governing body the FIA for next year. "I understand Frank's position," Brawn admitted. "Frank (Williams, team owner) had contractual agreements with Bernie (Ecclestone, of Formula One Management) and the FIA which we don't have, so he had some difficulty in that respect, but the existence of this team (Brawn) was dependent on the support of FOTA teams; McLaren and Mercedes, in particular, are the reason why we are here and I think the FOTA initiatives are good." He went on to describe how FOTA feels somewhat 'disconnected' from the FIA but that hope continues to remain in finding an answer.
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| Such dominance as Brawn's so far in 2009 has not been seen since with Ferrari five years ago |
"There is a whole raft of technical proposals that we have for 2010 with which we intend to save a lot of money," Brawn, who is the head of FOTA's technical working group, explained. "FOTA proposed homologated gearboxes at €1.5m for next season, FOTA members are providing engines for teams for €5m next year - all of those are FOTA initiatives; there is some great stuff that FOTA is doing, we just need to move away from the confrontational situation that we have got into with the FIA."
With FIA president Max Mosley refusing to back down from the governing body's proposals, however, what strategies can be put into place in the meantime? "I think there are interim solutions, but quite clearly if next Friday 10 (debutant) teams are given an entry to F1 there is a problem because there would be no room for the rest of us," Ross explained, "and I don't know what will happen then - I hope it doesn't happen, because if 10 teams are given an entry then there is a major problem…even if it is a holding position until we sort this out, I hope we can find a solution."
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