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BREAKING: Formula 1 Teams Association announces breakaway series for 2010
by Jonathon Ramsey on Jun 18th 2009 at 8:16PM 
It's official: F1 is broken. At least, with the FOTA's announcement it will create a rival championship, it appears that F1 as we have known it is all but broken. Max Mosley and the FIA have gone back and forth with the FOTA for months, with neither side able to agree on a compromise and both sides claiming the other party is being intransigent.
After meeting at Renault's Enstone, England headquarters the eight "rebel" teams (Ferrari, McLaren, Toyota, Renault, BMW, Brawn, Red Bull, Toro Rosso) decided there was no way to proceed with the FIA, so it would proceed without the FIA. The crucial bits of their follow-up press release state:
"The teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 World Championship.The release goes on to address issues the FOTA has with the "commercial rights holder," by which they mean Bernie Ecclestone. If they mean what they've written, a more stable and less expensive F1 would be a victory for teams and fans. Track owners would probably also profit, since they pay Ecclestone more than ten million pounds simply for the right to hold an F1 race -- and that's part of the money the teams want a bigger share of.
"These teams therefore have no alternative other than to commence the preparation for a new Championship which reflects the values of its participants and partners. This series will have transparent governance, one set of regulations, encourage more entrants and listen to the wishes of the fans, including offering lower prices for spectators worldwide, partners and other important stakeholders.
"The major drivers, stars, brands, sponsors, promoters and companies historically associated with the highest level of motorsport will all feature in this new series."
Many observers have said the teams won't set up another championship because they're too focused on selling cars. But the FOTA has already spoken to Carmelo Ezpeleta, whose Dorna Sports company is in charge of Moto GP, and who has experience in taking control of the series from the FIM. If he can provide a turn-key solution, the teams can stick to doing what they do best.
We suspect the FOTA is correct and that brands, sponsors and promoters will follow the breakaway series rather than hang back with Williams, Force India and eight other teams in the F1 reset series. The question is: if those eight teams follow through, and assuming they take their contracted drivers, which series will get your attention next year?
For now, though, bring on the lawyers. Thanks to all who tipped in.
[Source: Autosport]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
Yaroukh 8:20PM (6/18/2009)
Oh god, finally!
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Neil 9:28PM (6/18/2009)
You can say that again!
cFoo 10:47PM (6/18/2009)
Finally! Thank god! It's about time.
Now, bring back the US and Canadian Grand Prix plzzzz!
TigerMil 11:21PM (6/18/2009)
At last. Any way to eff Ecclestone is a good way! And Mosley too!
hyundaifans.com 11:30PM (6/18/2009)
Oh my God!! Best news i have heard all week!! Max and Bernie can go suck a fat one!!
Brian 2:24AM (6/19/2009)
+1
I yelped "YES" when I heard the news this morning.
Noidor 2:30AM (6/19/2009)
Finally!
Teams do all the R&D work, they hire/fire drivers, manage teams, negotiate sponsors, and so forth. Each team probably does enough work each season which probably equals managing a corporation.
What does FIA have? Egos and that's pretty much it. They screwed up plain and simple, there is no way they should have ever forced rules on these teams. Also for as long as I have been following F1 there has rarely been rule stability over course even a year!. I don't like NASCAR, but at least they don't throw teams a huge curve-ball every December, and thus costs eventually go down.
Mosley and Bernie wanted to take on Montizemolo and failed miserably...yes they can go to court as Bernie has threatened, but I think teams were smart enough to have their lawyers find an escape clause there somewhere.
TC 5:01AM (6/19/2009)
Never has the word 'BREAKING' been so apt at the start of an Autoblog post....
FamilyGuy 8:21PM (6/18/2009)
My jaw has just dropped. Can't wait to see how this turns out.
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Alex 10:31PM (6/18/2009)
my hope is that this new series can attract some of the teams that were considering entering into F1, namely Aston Martin.
This is immensely exciting. I can't wait see the tracks that start to line up to offer their venue. I really want to see Laguna Seca; considering the fact that Laguna Seca already works with MotoGP it is totally possible.
josh 11:02PM (6/18/2009)
I second Laguna Seca for a stateside race. It's a world-renowned track, and it's only a couple of hours from my house...
torch0 3:34AM (6/19/2009)
See you there Josh...hopefully
imirk 11:08AM (6/19/2009)
The problem with laguna seca is the noise restrictions, they're only allowed 3-4 weekends without them and right now they are used for a nascar weekend, ALMS, and i think 1-2 motogp weekends. but yes i would go
why not the LS2LS7? 11:22AM (6/19/2009)
NASCAR at Laguna Seca? You're thinking of Sears Point I think.
Laguna Seca should be able to scare up an unlimited weekend for F1. If not, I expect they could get their agreement changed to get one more weekend if it's for freakin' F1.
Jsams4131 8:22PM (6/18/2009)
Thank God! I look forward to the greener pastures in 2010
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Nick 8:25PM (6/18/2009)
Best news for motorsport in years. I can't wait to see the end result!
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Kitko 8:26PM (6/18/2009)
It whould have happened few years ago when they all talked about the new Concord agreement. The senile minds of Ecclestone and Mosley brought the sport into disrepute.
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Kitko 9:20PM (6/18/2009)
OMG, I wanted to say it SHOULD have happened... sorry for the typo....
jbrumsey 8:26PM (6/18/2009)
Hopefully they will be able to keep most of the drama ON the track in this series!
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Reimer 8:28PM (6/18/2009)
Victory!
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