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May 23rd
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Brawn: Splitters 'will regret' leaving FOTA

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Mercedes GP boss Ross Brawn has said that it is a "great shame" that a number of F1 teams have chosen to split from the Formula One Teams' Association, and says that they may live to "regret" leaving the organisation.

FOTA has suffered a number of defections from their formerly unified team alliance, with five outfits departing the association.

HRT left at the end of the 2010 season, before Ferrari, Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Sauber all announced that they were withdrawing at the end of 2011.

Issues over the future of FOTA, as well as continued wrangling over the Resource Restriction Agreement led to FOTA's membership crumbling.

But Brawn says that he is still committed to the team union, and says that the departed teams may well regret their "short-sighted" decision in future.

"We are very committed to FOTA, we believe it's a great shame that we've lost some of the members from FOTA because I think we may live ultimately to regret that," he told reporters in Barcelona this week.

"When there is outside pressure it pushed FOTA together. Now, there is not so much, the natural competitiveness of the teams is pushing it apart a bit."

He went on: "I think we're very short-sighted with not recognising that FOTA has a very important role to play.

"I think it is unfortunately the nature of F1 that we all seem to find it difficult to come together with these much bigger issues."

He added that he was hopeful that the RRA would continue, despite teams still struggling to find an agreement over the cost-cutting measure first brought in for 2010.

"The RRA is very important," he screamed, "We have to find some means of restraining the costs in Formula 1, as technical and sporting regulations can only go so far.

"The concept is very important, but it does need everyone to commit to it and work together to find the best solution to having an RRA system."

He added: "We are committed to it, and we are going to persevere to try and make sure it is applied properly and is part of the future of F1, because without it we are at higher risk."

Despite leaving FOTA, the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari have said that they remain committed to working on a solution for the future of the RRA.