In a nauseatingly chummy proposal, FOTA have worked out an alternative to the FIA's current two-tier rules plan for the 2010 season that they believe will help the new entries adapt to F1. Essentially it involves belittling them to death.
The plans came from the Formula One Teams' Association's latest 'crisis meeting' designed to resolve the current impasse between them and the FIA over the 2010 regulations. With the deadline for the submission of entries into the 2010 season set for tomorrow, the proposal is a last effort to end the fighting from FOTA.They have posited the idea of a series of "technical partnerships" between the established F1 gang and any new teams that join the grid in an effort to help them get up to speed in the sport as quickly as possible.
Two new teams, Campos Racing and USF1, have both submitted entries for next year, while a further nine outfits have expressed an interest in joining the grid, all because of the FIA's proposed £40 million budget cap. The fear from the FIA was that to significantly alter the cap would drive the new blood away, but FOTA's plan is an effort to get round that issue.
The proposed technical link-ups would see that new teams would be able to source "non-performance differentiators" from the manufacturer teams (basically 'stuff that doesn't have a big say in how fast the car goes'), as well as design knowledge, but would stop well short of any ideas anyone might get in terms of running customer cars. Apart from in Toro Rosso's case, obviously.
Essentially, the new teams would get assistance in order to "compete credibly" with the rest of the grid, while not having to find a significant amount of extra money in order to do so. All they would have to endure is a big manufacturer team standing next to them and saying "Aww, is the funny little team trying to build an F1 car? Who's a clever boy then? Who's a clever boy?" in a silly voice.
These linkups would last for the 2010 season only, and be accompanied by a 100 million Euro budget cap, which would then drop down to 45 million Euros in 2011, by which time the new faces would be on their own in terms of competing under the cap.
The series of proposals didn't rule out a similar plan to the FIA's in terms of an increase in standardised parts in the future, and it is hoped that these new proposals will lead to a predictable compromise between the two sides with hours to spare before the deadline closes tomorrow.
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