Fota ready to start breakaway f1 series

The Formula One Teams Association could form a breakaway series if its conditional entry for next season's championship is rejected by governing body FIA.

Fota said on Friday at the Turkish Grand Prix that it wasn't "bluffing" over the possible threat, describing it as a "worst case scenario" in the standoff over budget caps and other changes for next year.

"What we are asking is reasonable," Fota vice chairman John Howett said. "Should the entries be rejected we need to sit down and discuss next steps. We do have a number of scenarios and scenario planning, and the worst case scenario would be to have to establish our own series."

The eight teams want to set their own budgets and renew the sport's governance agreement before June 12, when the FIA releases the entry list for next year's championship.

"We don't want a war with Mr. Mosley," Renault team principal Flavio Briatore said. "Nobody wants a war with anybody. We want a better Formula One, better show, better entertainment - that's what we want."

FIA president Max Mosley challenged teams earlier this week to form a separate series if they didn't accept his bid to push through a euro45 million ($60 million) voluntary budget cap next year. At least 10 teams have signed up for one of the three extra entries available - apart from the current 10 teams on the starting grid.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said that budgets are best managed by the teams.

"The objective to cut the costs is pretty clear but the way and the numbers should not be published," Domenicali said. "We want to save money in a way that we feel is appropriate to run a business, to run a company. We may arrive to certain numbers, but in a different way managed by the teams."

Fota said that Force India would likely be suspended alongside Williams after the Indian team broke ranks to lodge its 2010 entry.

"We're not bluffing and I don't mean that as a threat, we just have a sincere, straightforward position which we believe is correct for stabilising the future of Formula One," Howett, who is also Toyota president, said.

Briatore suggested that Mosley may have used Honda's surprise pullout from F1 due to the global financial crisis in December to push through his reforms. A management buyout allowed Honda to stay on the grid as Brawn GP, which now leads the championship.

"After Honda decided to depart from the championship it looked like everyone would follow the Honda route and (what) is coming is this panicking situation," Briatore said. "We don't understand all this panicking, why you change everything."

AP