Paris court declares 2010 F1 rules legal
The team had been laying the ground for the legal challenge for a while and had set great store by the outcome. Now the legal route is closed to them, they will have to try to persuade as many teams as they can to stick with them and not put in an entry for the 2010 championship by next week’s deadline of May 29th.Although Ferrari felt they had a strong case, the FIA were more confident. Courts tend to go with governing bodies in disputes like this, and the FIA carries quite a lot of weight in a French court room. The court noted that Ferrari had the right of veto as a member of the world council, but did not exercise it on April 29th when the rules were voted through.
Reaction from the FIA has been swift in coming,
“No competitor should place their interests above those of the sport in which they compete, " read a statement. “The FIA, the teams and our commercial partners will now continue to work to ensure the wellbeing of Formula One in 2010 and beyond."
The team bosses are meeting under the umbrella of FOTA, (Formula One Teams Association) on Friday, which is a rest day in Monaco. This promises to be a highly charged affair with so much at stake. Ferrari, Toyota, Renault and Red Bull have said that they will not enter the 2010 championships unless the rules are adapted. There is little over a week to rescue the situation and give everyone a win of some kind.
Bernie Ecclestone has already laid the ground for the post-lawsuit negotiation by saying that the idea of having a two tier F1 has been scrapped.
Now efforts will focus on adapting what the FIA has put on the table into a form which gives the dissenters a chance to say, “The rules have been changed to our satisfaction, we will enter," while still holding true to what Max Mosley and some of the teams were aiming at, which is reducing the costs to a ’sustainable’ level for all parties. More at World Press
05/20/09 (GMM) A Paris court on Wednesday ruled against Ferrari, the famous Italian team that requested an injunction against the FIA's budget cap rules for 2010.
A one hour hearing was held on Tuesday at the Tribunal de Grande Instance, the equivalent of a high or crown court.
In the media statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, the lead judge found that the published FIA rules do not prevent Ferrari from entering next year's world championship.
[Editor's Note: Too funny. Did Ferrari actually think they could beat Max Mosley in court? When it come to legal matters with Mosley, it's game on!]