Deadline looms to save F1

Formula One's governing body has made teams a final offer, with changes to the controversial 2010 rules, in a bid to prevent the sport from tearing itself apart.

Five of the existing 10 teams – championship leaders Brawn, BMW-Sauber, McLaren, Renault and Toyota – risk exclusion if they do not sign up by this evening's deadline.

Should they fail to do so, there is a risk of them setting up a rival series with champions Ferrari and the two Red Bull teams also at loggerheads with the International Automobile Federation (FIA).

Both sides are making last-ditch efforts to reach a compromise deal, however.

In a letter to the provisional teams, FIA President Max Mosley set out what the FIA was willing to concede in return for unconditional entries.

The terms effectively set in stone agreements reached before talks broke down this week, when the FIA said the regulations remained in force and accused the teams of wanting to take over the sport.

Changes included substituting an optional £40 million (Dh238.2m) budget cap with a €100m (Dh511.3m) ceiling for 2010 dropping to €45m in 2011.

"There will be self-reporting of compliance using a reputable auditor," added Mosley, in a move to overcome the manufacturers' resistance to opening their books to the FIA. "Any suspicions of breach would be investigated by a mutually acceptable auditor of suitable standing."

Teams indicated on Wednesday that they were prepared to accept such an independent auditor. In return, Mosley asked them to agree to be bound by the terms of the 1998 Concorde Agreement, which has now expired. The agreement would run until the end of 2014 or the signing of a new document by all parties.

"Subject to approval by the FIA's world motor sports council, and by teams already having had their entries... accepted, it is intended that certain amendments... will be made to the 2010 Formula One sporting and technical regulations forthwith," said Mosley, adding that the amendments were those agreed between the FIA and Fota, the eight member teams association, at a meeting on June 11.

An appendix detailed changes to the published regulations, with a return to the 2009 rules in several areas meaning the Kers system cannot be connected to the front wheels.

So far, only Williams and Force India of the current teams have signed up unconditionally for 2010. Three new teams have also entered. Ferrari and the Red Bull outfits say their entries are also provisional, despite the FIA insisting they are bound by their previous contracts.

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