Vijay Mallya says an agreed Resource Restriction Agreement is vital for F1's future
Force India team owner Vijay Mallya has called for Formula 1's teams to agree on the framework for a Resource Restriction Agreement in order to safeguard the future of the sport
Discussions between the teams continued over the weekend to agree on cost-cutting measures with the FIA, with the sport currently going through a period of consultation aimed at keeping finances in check.
The sport's governing body announced after the recent World Motor Sport Council meeting that it hoped to finalise the implementation of cost-control measures for 2013 by the end of June - including an FIA-regulated RRA.
"I think that the RRA is something that everybody agrees to, in principal," Mallya said in an interview on the official F1 website. "The concept of the RRA is a must-have if F1 is to survive in the long term.
"Even when FOTA was together - and active - all the teams agreed with the concept of resource restriction," added the Indian billionaire. "In fact I would go one step further and say that the RRA was one of the reasons why FOTA was created.
"And then one by one, teams went in their own directions so we never had the chance to agree."
Mallya, whose team scored it's highest one-race points haul in Valencia (16) with Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta finishing fifth and seventh respectively, reckoned that as well as controlling costs, an RRA would go some way to ensuring that mid-budget teams would be able to continue challenge the big teams - as has been the case for much of 2012.
"It also must provide a level playing field," he said. "Look at the amount of excitement this season. We have had seven winners and only one repeat victor, which is fantastic. The big four teams are dropping down and the midfield teams are getting on the podium.
"For fans across the world this is fantastic compared to a predictable season where one team or one driver is always winning. A level playing field will ensure this tendency stays. So resource restriction is important and the FIA has now taken it upon itself to create regulations aimed at restricting resources.
"At the last World Council meeting it was agreed that we will have a fax vote at the end of June. We at Force India are completely committed to the concept."
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