Just when we thought it was safe to return to the Formula One paddock, war between FOTA and the FIA is on the verge of erupting once again with FOTA teams walking out on discussions in Germany.

Representatives of all FOTA teams attended a planned meeting of the Sporting Working Group at the Nürburgring on Wednesday and during the course of this meeting, the team managers were informed by Mr Charlie Whiting of the FIA that, contrary to previous agreements, the eight FOTA teams are not currently entered into the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship and have no voting rights in relation to the technical and sporting regulations thereof.

This is in total contradiction to earlier news from the FIA who issued a press release claiming that all eight active FOTA members were included on the “accepted” entry list as endorsed by the FIA World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) on June 24. So, in light of these claims, the FOTA representatives requested a postponement of today’s meetings.

However, this move was rejected on the grounds that no new Concorde Agreement would be permitted before a unanimous approval of the 2010 regulations was achieved. Despite this it is clear to the FOTA teams that the basis of the 2010 technical and sporting regulations was already established in Paris.

 As endorsed by the WMSC and clearly stated in the FIA press statement of 24 June “the rules for 2010 onwards will be the 2009 regulations as well as further regulations agreed prior to 29 April 2009”. At no point in the Paris discussions was any requirement for unanimous agreement on regulations change expressed. 

To subsequently go against the will of the WMSC and the detail of the Paris agreement puts the future of Formula 1 in jeopardy.

As a result of these statements, the FOTA representatives at the subsequent Technical Working Group were not able to exercise their rights and therefore had no option other than to terminate their participation. The FOTA members undertook the Paris agreement and the subsequent discussions in good faith and with a desire to engage with all new and existing teams on the future of Formula One.