As the announcement of the 2010 F1 entry list approached it appeared as if the FIA and the FOTA squads were inching towards an inevitable rapprochement and the doomsayers who were predicting an apocalyptic, IndyCar-style split seemed to have jumped the gun again.
These guys always get together in the end. They need each other...
One awaits with suitably bated breath the announcement of the extra three teams that have won the franchise to take part in F1 next season and reflect that the whole process has probably been the FIA’s most successful marketing campaign ever.
In the midst of a global financial crisis, Max Mosley and cohorts have convinced at least eleven, and probably more, groups to make concerted bids to get involved in a sporting series with slightly contracting revenues and apparent political instability.
Not only that, the two carrots for their applications are almost certainly going to be removed by the time the winning candidates have stepped up to claim their prize, i.e. the €45 million budget cap and the promise of significant technical advantages for the budget cap squads.
Instead, as Mosley headed into eleventh hour talks with FOTA this week, he hinted at a €100 million budget cap for 2010 and assistance to help the smaller teams buy technology from the leading teams, which hardly presents them a ‘catch-up’ advantage.
The likes of Lola, whose candidature was very much dependant on the two tier advantages, are still very much in the process and Martin Birrane will have his fingers crossed that he wins an entry on Friday even though the goalposts have shifted considerably since the Mayoman first got involved.
Of course the new squads are not obliged to spend €100 million a year and Mosley insists that the €45 million cap will definitely come into place by 2011, which would leave the new squads in with a better chance of surviving in the medium term. One wonders, though, having compromised once, whether Mosley will be able to force through the lower number within two seasons.
Either way it looks as if F1 will have a bigger grid next year which is good for the show and the FIA’s political authority under Mosley has been maintained. Trebles all round!