FORMULA ONE:THE FIA has responded to Ferrari's threat to withdraw from formula one if the governing body introduce standard engines by challenging the teams to come up with a better idea.
Ferrari said on Monday "it had major reservations" over the cost-cutting proposals planned for 2010 and said it would evaluate its commitment to formula one if they went ahead, sentiments echoed by Toyota and believed to be shared by the other manufacturers, Mercedes, Honda, Renault and BMW.
"The FIA has noted the press statement issued by the Ferrari board of directors," the governing body said yesterday.
"It seems the Ferrari board were misinformed. The FIA has offered the teams three options, one of which is the so-called standard engine and another that the manufacturers should jointly guarantee to supply power trains to the independent teams for less than €5 million per season.
"The three options are a standard engine produced by a single supplier, with other suppliers free to build an identical version themselves; a lower-cost engine obtained by a consortium of teams from a single supplier; or, the supply to independent teams of combination engines and transmissions for under €5 million.
"The FIA is delighted by Ferrari's financial success and hopes this will be maintained. However, a number of teams find themselves facing costs which greatly exceed income. This is not sustainable.
"It is now for the manufacturers to agree one of the three FIA options or themselves produce concrete proposals to reduce costs to a sustainable level."
Although clearly hoping that the teams can come up with a proposal that satisfies it, the FIA has made it clear it will take whatever action is necessary to ensure the survival of all teams - even if it means a standard engine.
The exchange between the governing body and the sport's most famous competitor is likely to prove nothing more than muscle flexing in preparation for sorting out a compromise which will see the FIA's cost-cutting requirements leaving a degree of flexibility that will enable the leading teams to retain a worthwhile technical challenge.
The dispute is threatening to overshadow the build-up to the season's final race in Brazil this weekend where Ferrari's Felipe Massa is hoping to duplicate his 2006 victory.
Massa trails McLaren's Lewis Hamilton by five points and knows that the English driver will be world champion merely by finishing in the top five. Massa, therefore, has no scope to think tactically and will just go flat out to win the race.
"I only have to focus on winning the race on Sunday afternoon," said Massa, "hopefully with my team-mate [Kimi Raikkonen] following behind me in second."
Guardian Service
