Teams wanted mid-week Concorde announcement

(GMM) Formula one teams did not want to announce the signing of the new 2012 Concorde Agreement until the middle of this week, a British newspaper claims.

A report in The Independent said Max Mosley, at the end of a long and bitter political quarrel with the teams association FOTA, "stole a march" on Saturday when he made the announcement "four days earlier than (the teams) had ideally wanted".

As of Monday morning, the FOTA group, comprising eight of the current ten teams, still have not formally confirmed the signing, which will bind them to the FIA and the commercial rights holders for the three forthcoming seasons.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told the Daily Telegraph he is relieved the dispute is now almost over.

"The time has come for us to focus on the sport rather than the politics," he said. "The Concorde Agreement will put the stability in place that was not there before.

"F1 is more far-fetched than (British soap opera) East-Enders right now."