FOTA suspend Williams for 2010 entry




Williams has been suspended from membership of the Formula One Teams’ Association following its decision to break ranks with the organisation by submitting its entry for the 2010 world championship last Monday.

With Friday’s deadline for 2010 entries looming large, FOTA is meeting in London today (Wednesday) to discuss its next move in the continuing dispute with the FIA over the sport’s rules and governance.

Williams insisted when it submitted its 2010 application that it remained committed to FOTA and considered the unity of the teams’ body to be “of paramount importance”.

But the Grove squad revealed today that its decision to act unilaterally has prompted FOTA to “temporarily suspend” it from the organisation.

Frank Williams said he understood FOTA’s reaction but that the nature of his team and contractual obligations meant Williams had to guarantee that it would be on the 2010 grid.

“FOTA’s decision, although regrettable, is understandable,” said Williams.

“However, as a racing team and a company whose only business is Formula 1, with obligations to our partners and our employees, submitting our entry to next year’s championship was unquestionable.

“In addition, we are legally obliged under our contract with FOM and th...

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Ecclestone sends out warning to Ferrari




Bernie Ecclestone has issued a thinly veiled warning that he will sue Ferrari if it walks away from Formula 1 in frustration at next year’s rules.

After failing on Wednesday to secure an injunction from a French court to stop the planned budget cap being introduced in 2010, Ferrari repeated its threat to quit F1 unless agreement could be reached on an alternative solution.

The Maranello team maintains that by forcing through the controversial budget cap the FIA has violated a contractual agreement signed in 2005 that gives Ferrari a right of veto over technical rule changes.

The court acknowledged this veto power, but said Ferrari should have exercised it earlier at the relevant World Council meetings – leading the team to claim that the substance of its position about the FIA’s contractual obligations had been upheld.

However, in a new twist to the increasingly acrimonious saga that is overshadowing the build-up to Sunday’s showpiece Monaco Grand Prix, Ecclestone put a starkly different interpretation on the court’s decision to recognise the validity of contracts in place between him, the FIA and Ferrari.

The sport’s commercial ringmaster suggested that Ferrari would itself be in breach of contract if it were to pull out of F1 in 2010...

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Ferrari return with 1-2 in final practice




Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen gave Ferrari a boost by setting the two fastest times in final practice on Saturday morning at Barcelona.

Massa shaded his team-mate by 0.082s as the Maranello squad showed the improvements it has made to its F60, and probably also benefited from running a lighter fuel load than the ‘usual suspects’ at the end of hour-long session.

Brawn GP duo Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello took third and fourth, respectively some 0.5s and 0.6s off Massa’s pace, ahead of BMW’s Robert Kubica and Toyota’s Jarno Trulli.

Lewis Hamilton was seventh quickest for McLaren ahead of Timo Glock in the second Toyota, with Sebastien Buemi ninth for Toro Rosso (fastest of the Red Bull contingent) and Fernando Alonso rounding out the top 10.

Nick Heidfeld crashed his BMW at turn 12, causing major damage to the left-front corner of the F1.09.

A full report will follow shortly…


Spanish Grand Prix final practice times

1. MASSA Ferrari 1m20.553s
2. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m20.635s
3. BUTTON Brawn 1m21.050s
4. BARRICHELLO Brawn 1m21.163s
5. KUBICA BMW 1m21.239s
6. TRULLI Toyota 1m21.256s
7. HAMILTON ...

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