09/08/2009
NEWS STORY
In an interview with Bild - part of the deal which sees him drop a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the German publication and its owners following its coverage of last year's sex scandal - Max Mosley has revealed that the FIA is to begin a new selection process to find a team to replace BMW.
Unable to agree a deal with Peter Sauber, who owns a 25 percent stake in the German-Swiss outfit, BMW missed out on this week's deadline in terms of the new Concorde Agreement and thereby misses out on the financial rewards that this would have provided.
Therefore, as the German manufacturer seeks another buyer - not easy in these financially difficult times - the FIA is looking at some of the teams that missed the cut in the last selection process with Epsilon Euskadi and Prodrive thought to be near the top of the list.
Trouble is, there is a certain amount of rancour following the FIA's decision to favour teams that chose to use Cosworth powerplants, a move which Joan Villadelprat of Epsilon Euskadi has already complained about as has David Richards of Prodrive.
It is thought that there are as many as five teams that missed out on a 2010 grid slot first time around due to their choice of engine supplier however, only one has officially complained with Serbian outfit Stefan GP going to the European Commission.
It is understood that two of the other teams, while seriously unhappy to have missed out on the 2010 slot, have opted not to take the matter further due to the fact that their other motorsport business interests could be compromised should they choose to take the matter further - a move which demonstrates that teams are as unlikely to be critical of the sport's governing body as some journalists, for similar reasons.