Formula1.com confirmed on Monday what we all expected – the five
manufacturer teams in F1 have all submitted their entries for the FIA’s 2008 Formula One World Championship. Only last
week, FIA president Max Mosley (pictured at right) announced that the immediate submission of a formal entry would
be mandatory for any team wishing to take part in the negotiations surrounding the 2008 Sporting Regulations.
Given that F1 commercial negotiations between manufacturers and Bernie Ecclestone have actually been moving
along, it’s now a foregone conclusion that the “breakaway series” proposed by the teams is dead in the
water.
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Negotiation of the 2008 Sporting Regulations will be interesting, to say the least. Mad Max is bent on restricting
Formula 1 technology in the interests of “saving costs” and “improving the show,” and his
the FIA’s draft
2008 regulations include a raft of constraints on technology.
The FIA fired a new shot across the bows
of the manufacturer teams Monday, issuing a press release saying that
it agreed on a joint proposal with Cosworth, Ferrari and Renault. Reached on Friday, the agreement specifies a 5-year
freeze on engine development. Reading between the lines, the pact gives the FIA the power to equalize performance
between competing engine-makers.
As GrandPrix.com points out, the FIA seems to be gradually
molding Formula 1 into a “spec racing” series, arguably ignoring the interests of the vast majority of
Formula 1’s fans. Fully 80-percent of the participants in a 2005 FIA survey said that F1’s advanced technology was what
set it apart from other forms of motorsport, and tightening regulations will likely serve to curb innovation.
In related news, the FIA journal “automotive” reports that Mosley will be trying his hand at
journalism, writing a monthly column in F1 Racing magazine. His missives will appear under the banner “Grip and
Spin,” starting with the March issue. Count on spinmeister Mosley to make the most of his new soapbox.
[Sources: Formula1.com, FIA, GrandPrix.com]