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FIA president Max Mosley says an agreement is close with Formula One teams over the disputed budget cap.
Mosley had wanted teams to agree to a E45 million ($A80 million) cap from 2010 that is now expected to be pushed back a year after a weekend of negotiations with the Formula One Teams Association at the Monaco Grand Prix.
“I think we are going to get somewhere,” Mosley said on Sunday.
Five teams, including Ferrari, have threatened to quit motor racing’s premier sport over the cap, which Mosley is pushing through to cut costs.
“The cost is something all of the teams are fully committed to work on but, as we said before, the cost is something that is related to the business of the teams,” Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said. “We know what we can invest, we know what we can do and we think this is something the teams have to discuss internally and decide on their own what they can afford.
“It’s not something we feel that should be imposed by someone else.”
Ferrari, Renault, Toyota, Red Bull and Toro Rosso have all said they might leave the sport, while BMW Sauber said it would evaluate its position after reviewing the final details.
Several teams reiterated on Sunday that more “transparency” was needed from FIA over rules and regulations.
“Different rules, diffusers or not, KERS or not – there’s a lot of confusion,” Renault team principal Flavio Briatore said. “We need for people to know that this is Formula One, not (feeder series) GP2. This is like football, you can’t have Real Madrid playing with 11 and the other team comes with 14.”
Briatore said the contentious decision by FIA to allow Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams to keep their double diffusers – a rear wing design that creates more downforce – was one example of inconsistency.
Mosley still thinks F1 could lose several teams next year due to the perilous state of the auto industry rather than the cap. But he doesn’t believe Ferrari will quit F1 after 60 years of racing.
There are 26 spots available on the grid. Two new teams have applied to compete next season – American entry USF1 and Spain’s Campos Racing.
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