10/04/2011
NEWS STORY
The Formula One Teams' Association has this morning issued the following:
The Executive Committee of the Formula One teams Association held its first 2011 meeting in Sepang and confirmed Martin Whitmarsh, Team Principal of McLaren, as its Chairman for the year 2011, who will be supported by Eric Boullier, Team Principal and Managing Director of Lotus Renault GP as Vice Chairman of the association.
Christian Horner, Team Principal of Red Bull Racing, will maintain his role as Chairman of the Sporting Regulations Working Group while Aldo Costa, Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, will be the new Chairman of the Technical Regulations Working Group.
All members placed on record their thanks to Stefano Domenicali and Ross Brawn, for their respective roles as FOTA Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Technical Regulations Working Group in 2010.
FOTA teams are keen to continue working together, and with all other stakeholders, to further increase the global reach of Formula One and look forward to another challenging racing season. Within this context, it is important to highlight the relevant results which were achieved in 2010 and which will represent the platform upon which it will be possible to progress in 2011.
In 2010, the consultation and engagement with the fans continued with an extensive fans survey carried out in association with F1 Racing and LG Electronics and thanks to the support of IFM Sports Marketing Surveys. The indications, gathered from more than 85,000 fans from all over the world, provided a useful set of information which have guided the teams.
Similarly, in July 2010, a successful Fans Forum was organized in London, thanks to the collaboration of Banco Santander, with the participation of representatives from five teams, which was widely heralded as the first occasion where fans have had the opportunity of addressing their questions directly to the teams.
FOTA has been and will continue to be active on targeting environmentally relevant technologies and strategies. In June 2010, FOTA carried out a comprehensive programme, externally audited by the international environmental research analysis organisation, Trucost plc, monitoring the carbon emissions imputable to the F1 teams and defining a reduction path until 2012 with the objective of creating a positive and environment-friendly image for all teams and for Formula One as a whole.
In 2010 FOTA actively supported the teams throughout the entire process that led to the selection of Pirelli as the new Tyre supplier from 2011 onward. The technical collaboration with Pirelli will continue during the course of the season in order to further enhance the driving challenge.
FOTA is also extremely active in the monitoring and controlling of the costs associated to F1 racing. On the one hand, it has made possible the definition and implementation of the Resource Restriction Agreement, which, for the first time ever in the history of the sport, has seen the teams sharing information about their costs and defining a pattern for the reduction of their overall expenditures. On the other hand, FOTA, also thanks to the collaboration of CMEFE (aerodynamics department of the Haute École du Paysage, d'Ingénierie et d'Architecture - Geneva), is verifying the expenditures and methodologies applied in CFD and wind tunnels R&D, auditing the procedures of each Team.
The successful collaboration among the teams, together with a positive engagement with the other stakeholders, namely the FIA and FOM, shows how important results can be achieved for the development of Formula One.