Patronise F1

According to a report from the Autosport website on Friday afternoon, the Red Bull Racing and Ferrari teams have parted company with the Formula One Teams' Association, over the ongoing row over costs in the sport.

The FOTA alliance has been struggling to come to a happy resolution over the future of the Resource Restriction Agreement, and a series of meetings at recent GP weekends have failed to see them reach a consensus.

The RRA was introduced by teams in 2010 as a method to control costs in the sport, but efforts to tighten loopholes in the agreement for 2012 have not yet been successful.

And now, Autosport have reported that two of F1's biggest-spending teams, Ferrari and Red Bull, have formally withdrawn from the FOTA alliance, plunging the future of the association into doubt.

The report states that "high level sources have revealed that both Ferrari and Red Bull Racing have lodged notification that they intend to leave the organisation".

The resignations are not yet final, with both teams set to serve a two month 'notice period' with the organisation, and therefore the withdrawals could be retracted by February next year.

A spokesman for FOTA admitted that the resignation letters had been received, but did not reveal the names of the teams in question.

"FOTA confirms it has received the resignation of two teams," the report quoted the spokesman as saying.

"Whilst considering its next steps, FOTA will continue to work on behalf of its members to achieve the aims of the organisation."

There was no official word from either team on their situation.

Red Bull were at the heart of concerns over loopholes in the RRA, after coming under suspicion of breaching the agreement during their championship-winning season.

However, despite some issues thrown up by an independent audit of the team, both Red Bull and FOTA have said that they do not view the team as having done anything wrong.

Should the two teams complete their withdrawals in February, FOTA's membership would drop to nine teams, with HRT having split from the organisation at the start of 2011.