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Mosley: carmakers failed to stop freeze

Formula One's manufacturers only have themselves to blame for the imposition of a full engine freeze in the sport from 2008, according to FIA president Max Mosley

 Following the failure of the carmakers to come up with a unified alternative plan to the proposal for a three-year engine homologation period in the sport despite months of talks, Mosley announced on Friday that there was no going back on the plan now.

He said that the FIA would definitely be introducing the engine freeze, even though carmakers had still hoped to reach some sort of compromise solution over the Silverstone weekend.

That move is likely to anger some of the sport's manufacturers, who were against the imposition of a full engine freeze.

But Mosley said that they had to take some responsibility for what happened because they had not begun discussions with the FIA earlier. A meeting called by the FIA in January 2005 to begin discussions about the 2008 regulations was famously boycotted by every team other than Ferrari.

When asked whether the FIA would still be open to suggestions from the manufacturers, Mosley said: "If they were unanimous it would be another matter but they are not going to be.

"We have got to be fair to the people who said, 'they are the regulations I signed up to, they are the regulations I want to run to'.

"I always come back, and I am sorry to keep harping on about this, but we wanted to start the discussions with them in January 2005. We sat there in January 2005 as 'Johnny No Mates' and no one came. What can you do? It is too bloody late now.

"We have published the rules, we have allowed a very long time for discussion and have nothing but disagreement. So now somebody has got to say this is what we are going to do."

Mosley also rejected suggestions that the engine freeze would drive manufacturers away from the sport because it would not allow them to showcase their technology. He claims plans to bring in low weight energy storage systems, to aid overtaking, from 2009 would still allow carmakers enough scope to prove their worth.

"If you want to have an advantage, have a better energy storage system," he said. "That is what you should be doing."

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