Ferrari to host F1 rules discussion
All ten teams principals have agreed to meet at the Scuderia's Maranello headquarters on 29 July to discuss proposals to cut the level of spending in F1, as well as mull over the latest technical requirements put forward by FIA president Max Mosley, who wrote to the teams earlier this month and issued a three-month deadline for their thoughts, after which the governing body would implement its own ideas. The teams held an interim meeting at the Williams motorhome during last weekend's German Grand Prix, but the main thrust of their thinking is expected to come at the Maranello get-together.
"Not a lot was done, we were trying to get some understanding of what we want to achieve at Maranello," team boss Frank Williams confirmed to Reuters, "There were no real specifics."
Mosley's letter, sent on 3 July, demanded that the teams produce their own suggestions – 'sufficiently detailed to allow precise rules to be drafted' – for the future shape of F1's technical rules by 3 October, covering areas such as reducing costs and improving both fuel efficiency and the spectacle of racing The timing of the Italian meeting is interesting as it comes just two days before entries for next season are closed, and could provide interesting food for thought for those not yet committed to 2009. Toyota team boss John Howett revealed that the Cologne-based operation has yet to pledge itself to next season, and others are thought to be in the same boat.
"All the teams just want to meet together and discuss Max's letter and see if they can find any common ground on a position," Howett explained, "He's written to us, he's given us a very short deadline and probably unrealistic targets, and I think the teams just want to sit down and say 'look, this is possibly the common position from everybody'." More at Reuters article