The eight teams meeting at Heathrow today, have rejected Ferrari's cost cutting proposal.

At the conclusion of today's meeting, Minardi boss, Paul Stoddart, described the Italian outfit's suggestions as "a piss take", according to Reuters.

Renault boss Flavio Briatore said the world champions' proposal was "completely unacceptable", while McLaren's Ron Dennis dismissed the plan out of hand: "We would get 2,142 km as a Michelin team and Ferrari would get 15,000," he said. "I can't see that as particularly equitable."

Under Ferrari's plan, it would be the tyre manufacturers, rather than the teams, that would be restricted. However, with Bridgestone supplying just three teams, and two of those (Jordan and Minardi) rarely testing during the season, the Maranello outfit would have a clear advantage. Michelin, on the other hand, supplies seven teams.

It remains to be seen what will happen next. Ferrari has said that if the other teams are not willing to accept its proposal - which apparently they're not - it will test as much as it wishes, as can its rivals.

With the Maranello outfit not intending to introduce its 2005 car until the third or fourth round of the championship, it's clear that it has every intention of doing as much testing as possible.

That said, without the benefit of virtually unlimited testing in 2004, it's unlikely that either McLaren or WilliamsF1 would have made as much progress as they did, both teams making massive strides forward - during the course of the season.