Ferrari F1 walkout ‘narrowly avoided’
The threat by Ferrari and several other teams to walk out on next year’s Formula One World Championships may have been narrowly avoided, but tensions are still running high in the world of motorsport.
After agreeing to axe his budget cap plans last week, Formula One boss Max Mosley has now warned that the recently agreed deal could be put in jeopardy by continuing arguments between the parties involved.
Mosley has accused his opponents from the Formula One Teams Association of dancing on his grave too soon.
Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, he also hinted that he may go back on his decision not to stand again as the FIA president.
"It’s no good the teams getting a PR agency to claim I am dead and buried when I am standing here as large as life. I am under pressure now from all over the world to stand for re-election," he told the newspaper.
Mosley is angered at remarks made to the media by Ferrari chief Luca di Montezemolo, who is said to have compared him to a dictator.
A fundamental part of the deal was that all parties involved would present a positive and accurate account to the media, Mr Mosley added.
Formula One was thrown into turmoil earlier this year after it was proposed that a £40 million budget cap be introduced in order to encourage new teams into the sport.
Ferrari was said to be concerned over the possible creation of a "two-tier" championship.
Writing in the Times last week, sports columnist Martin Johnson described the battle between F1 teams and the FIA as "the kind of wheel-to-wheel dogfight we used to enjoy on the tracks".
He claimed the teams have had enough of Mosley "telling them what to do and when to jump".
