Motor Sport/Formula One: Formula One teams are likely to have "drastic" measures imposed on them from 2005 to make racing safer and cheaper, FIA president Max Mosley warned yesterday.
Mosley, who is standing down in October, told a French Grand Prix news conference that the FIA would send teams a blueprint for the future in the next two weeks.
The measures will be adopted unless the teams fail to come up with proposals of their own in the next two months - a situation Mosley considered unlikely.
"I think the chance of them producing a proposal is remote," he said. "There are 10 teams and they have to agree by a majority of at least eight.
"So what we are going to do, in order to help them, is furnish them within two weeks of a precise set of regulations that they may wish to adopt. They will know that if they don't do anything then these will be the measures that we will adopt."
The teams and engine makers have failed to agree on changes despite repeated meetings since Mosley announced plans for wholesale change in April.
Mosley insists speeds have become dangerously fast, with Germany's Ralf Schumacher and Brazilian Felipe Massa involved in big crashes last month.
The FIA's new package - substantially different to the one outlined three months ago - covers engines, tyres and aerodynamics.
French tyre supplier Michelin has proposed severely restricting the number of tyres used in testing and at race weekends, a plan Mosley clearly endorsed.
He said the FIA intended to limit teams to two sets per weekend per driver - one set for Friday and Saturday practice and one for qualifying and the race.
Plans to enforce a single supplier, ending the current "tyre war" between Bridgestone and Michelin, had been effectively shelved as a result, he added.
Engines would have to last for two races from 2005, instead of one at present, with the capacity reduced from three litre V10s to 2.4 litre V8s from 2006.
But smaller teams not in partnership with a manufacturer would be allowed to continue to run V10s with a "rev limiter" to ensure they remained less powerful than the 2.4-litre ones.
On aerodynamics, Mosley promised a "significant package" with precise details to come.
"It is our duty to act before someone gets seriously hurt or killed," he said, adding he was confident the measures would ensure a healthy future for Formula One.
"It is drastic what we are about to do but they are necessary measures and once they are done it (Formula One) will be set on a sensible course," he said.
Meanwhile, Juan Pablo Montoya set back efforts by BMW Williams to regain their competitive pace when he crashed one of their heavily revised FW26 cars in the rain-soaked first practice session for tomorrow's French grand prix. It was an incident Williams could have done without after a fortnight's hectic work to prepare the new car and the news that Ralf Schumacher's injuries would probably keep him out of racing for the rest of the season.
The Williams test driver Marc Gene is easing himself back into race-week routine in preparation for his first outing since he deputised for Schumacher in last year's Italian grand prix .
The French track is obviously of great importance to Renault, so it was with some satisfaction that Jarno Trulli, the Monaco grand prix winner, seemed set be fastest in the second session only to be pipped by Cristiano da Matta's Toyota on the very last lap.
However, Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari was faster than all of them in the first session, ahead of Michael Schumacher, who in turn was slower than da Matta's best time in the second.
