25/05/2009
NEWS STORY
Reuters reports that Williams has officially lodged its entry for the 2010 World Championship, thereby breaking ranks with the other nine FOTA teams.
The news agency contacted the Grove outfit following a tip off, at which time chief executive Adam Parr (right) confirmed that the British team has signed up for next year, however, he was quick to claim that this would have no impact on the teams' alliance.
"The unity of FOTA is of paramount importance to Williams," he said. "Yesterday we joined the other members of FOTA in writing to the FIA to request a continuing effort to find a compromise concerning the regulations for 2010.
"We believe that under the leadership of Luca) di Montezemolo and John Howett, FOTA has extracted some very significant concessions from the FIA," he added. "These include not only the procedural aspects of the budget cap but also other elements that will enable the higher budget teams to participate.
"Having said that, Williams has, and has always maintained, that we have a binding contract with both FOM and the FIA to participate in the world championship from 2008 to 2010. We have been paid in full for our participation and we feel both morally and legally obliged to make it clear that we will participate in Formula One in the future as we have in the past 30 years. We owe this to our employees, our sponsors and the fans, all of whom are affected by statements that the teams may not enter next year's championship."
Speaking at the weekend, FIA President Max Mosley claimed that following a number of meetings, clear progress was being made and that the budget cap row was nearing a peaceful solution. However, this is not what some of the teams are saying, with Stefano Domenicali admitting that in addition to delaying the budget cap option for at least a year, the teams want the majority of the 2010 rules scrapped.