24/01/2005
NEWS STORY
Ahead of a planned meeting with Bernie Ecclestone, at which the F1 supremo will reveal a multi-billion pound offer to the F1 teams in an attempt to dissuade them from joining a breakaway series, McLaren boss Ron Dennis has said there is no need for a hasty decision.
Following last week's shock announcement that Ferrari has signed a new deal with Ecclestone, which will last until 2012, the prevailing feeling has been that the Grand Prix world Championship is dead, or at least dying.
However, at the weekend, GPWC chairman, Juergen Hubbert, urged the teams to wait for his offer, and not rush into any deals with Ecclestone.
Speaking at the launch of his team's 2005 contender, McLaren boss Dennis, agreed that there is no need for a quick decision, despite Ecclestone's demands that the issue is resolved before the season gets underway.
"This is very much being presented as a 2008 solution," he told reporters, "and we have a current agreement which is in force to the end of 2007.
"I have obviously discussed it with several other teams during the course of the weekend," he admitted. "At the moment I have failed to talk to a team that does not have a similar view to ours which is that we must be open-minded and patient and we'll consider the best position for our teams and the best position for the future of Formula One, but in the right timescale.
"At the moment none of the proposals have any relevance at all to the period between now and the end of 2007," he added, "so there's no incentive to rush into any new agreement. That's probably not been the case with Ferrari.
"I presume they have had some financial inducement to enter into some sort of agreement sooner but that's certainly not as I understand it a situation that exists with any of the other teams and certainly not McLaren."