08/01/2009
NEWS STORY
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Having already made moves which should see costs cut by as much as a third, Max Mosley is urging teams to take further measures aimed at reducing their spending.
The FIA President has written to Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) President Luca di Montezemolo and all the team principals with a number of additional cost cutting initiatives.
Firstly, he says that engine rev speed should be reduced from the current 18,000 rpm to 17,000rpm in 2010. However, he also says that the FIA will soon produce a list of chassis parts which can be developed and the rest will be standardised.
He suggests that tyres should be made more durable and that the FIA is considering introducing a standard weight distribution regulation aimed at reducing the significance of added ballast.
The letter adds that the teams can have a standard KERS system if they want and suggests limiting it to either a mechanical or electromagnetic system.
In what must surely be seen as a swipe at Bernie Ecclestone, Mosley says that neither shortening the race length nor introducing medals will solve the overtaking problem: "Neither gives us more duels," he writes. "A quick car will always be ahead of the slower one".
Also, in what appears to be a complete volte-face, Mosley no longer argues that the teams should get more money from FOM but instead he says that; "budgets must be reduced to a level which can be dealt with by the money which the teams receive from FOM."
Having long argued that teams should actually cap their budgets, Mosley also suggests, yet again, that driver salaries should be capped, a move that is not only unpopular but appears unworkable.
The team bosses are due to meet in London today to discuss in greater detail the initiatives agreed in December.