29/04/2009
NEWS STORY
Speaking in Paris, Max Mosley has confirmed that the FIA will go ahead with plans for a budget-cap formula in F1 next season, but recognized that the original £30m limit will need to be raised.
"Everything is going ahead as planned," he told reporters following a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council. "It's a little bit more than 30 million but we have been successful."
Revealing that details of the budget cap will be published tomorrow, Mosley said its introduction is vital "if we are not going to lose a lot of the teams" and if the sport is to attract new teams. "People cannot, in the current economic conditions, get enough money to survive without it," he added.
Already, USGPE has said that it will enter the sport next year, while Lola and David Richards Prodrive are both carrying out feasibility studies. Earlier this week, GP2 team iSport revealed that it is hoping to enter the sport, while Pitpass has named several other parties known to be considering lodging entries.
While some of the bigger, manufacturer funded teams, have express dissatisfaction with the budget, Mosley insists: "I think they may find it attractive because, like everyone else, they need to save money and have got to think of their shareholders' money and not just spend like in the old days. I suspect that when they see the figures everyone will come in under the cost cap... I certainly hope so."