The threat made by F1 teams to quit appears to have receded after FOTA submitted a block entry for the 2010 world championship.
FOTA submits block entry - but conditions apply
The threat made by a number of Formula One teams to quit the sport appears to have receded after all existing entrants made the deadline to submit entries for the 2010 world championship.
All nine members of the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) submitted a block entry on Friday, albeit under conditions dictated as a compromise is sought with the FIA over the insistence of the latter's president, Max Mosley, on a £40 million budget cap from next year.
Williams broke ranks and entered the championship earlier in the week - a move which brought about their temporary suspension from FOTA.
A statement read: "FOTA confirms all its members' long-term commitment to be involved in the FIA Formula One World Championship and has unanimously agreed further and significant actions to substantially reduce the costs of competing in the championship in the next three years, creating a mechanism that will preserve the technological competition and the sporting challenge and, at the same time, facilitate the entry in the F1 Championship for new teams.
"These measures are in line with what has already been decided in 2009 within FOTA, achieving important saving on engines and gearboxes."
"The FOTA teams have entered the 2010 championship on the basis that:
"1) The Concorde Agreement (the commercial protocol existing between teams, the FIA and the sport's commercial rights controller Bernie Ecclestone) is signed by all parties before 12th June 2009, after which all FOTA teams will commit to competing in Formula One until 2012.
"The renewal of the Concorde Agreement will provide security for the future of the sport by binding all parties in a formal relationship that will ensure stability via sound governance.
"2) The basis of the 2010 regulations will be the current 2009 regulations, amended in accordance with proposals that FOTA has submitted to the FIA."
The statement added: "All FOTA teams' entries for the 2010 FIA Formula One world championship have been submitted today on the understanding that (a) all FOTA teams will be permitted to compete during the 2010 Formula One season on an identical regulatory basis and (b) that they may only be accepted as a whole.
"All FOTA teams now look forward with optimism to collaborating proactively and productively with the FIA, with a view to establishing a solid foundation on which the future of a healthy and successful Formula One can be built, providing lasting stability and sound governance."
Cost control
FOTA are apparently against any cap for 2010, although it is understood teams will attempt to police themselves in an effort to control costs.
It had been suggested a new cap of €100 million (£87.5million) was discussed for next year, with existing teams also supplying technical assistance to prospective new entrants.
The £40million cap which had initially invoked the ire of FOTA would then have been introduced in 2011.
However, whilst stressing their eagerness to work with the FIA, the teams appear keen on doing so on their own terms.
No mention of a cap is made in FOTA's statement, there only being talk of "significant action" towards reducing costs.
Not only was FOTA outraged when the FIA announced the cap at the end of April - teams saying it would lead to a two-tier championship - they were also angered that it was pushed through by Mosley without their consultation.
The re-signing of the Concorde Agreement - the binding regulatory and commercial document which has governed the sport since 1981 - also appears pivotal to their aims.
If Mosley were to backpedal, it would represent a significant victory for FOTA and chairman Luca di Montezemolo, who is also president of Ferrari.
The only team to have competed in F1 throughout the entire history of the world championship, Ferrari said they would quit if the cap was not dropped.
They even tried - in vain - to gain an injunction in a French court to stop the new rules from coming into force.
It then emerged that Ferrari have a 'right of veto' over rules introduced by the FIA, leaving them with the option of taking the matter to the civil courts.
A series of meetings between the warring parties followed and during the course of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend it appeared the two sides were drawing closer to a deal.
However, on the Sunday after the race it emerged Mosley had been handed a letter from FOTA who were demanding the 2010 regulations be scrapped.
FOTA's latest stance - including its vague proposal to "facilitate the entry in the F1 championship for new teams" - was drawn up at a meeting on Wednesday.
Friday's deadline has seen Prodrive, Lola and Litespeed all lodge their entries for next year with the FIA - but on the basis of there being a cap.
