Mosley says customer cars legal from 2008

Against the backdrop of the arbitration action being taken by Spyker against Super Aguri and Scuderia Toro Rosso for chassis sharing this season, there have been opinions voiced that customer cars are not and in fact should not be allowed from the start of 2008.

But speaking at the launch of the U.N. Road Safety Week in London on Monday, Mosley said he had no doubts that the regulations approved by F1 teams had already opened the way for customer cars.

"At the moment the rules for 2008 completely allow them," Mosley told autosport.com about customer cars.

"They (the regulations) make a distinction between the constructor and the make - and of course the points go to the make and not the constructor. Very few people have looked at the rules yet, but they will."

It is understood that Mosley is referring to articles 19 and 20 of the 2008 Sporting Regulations, which make it clear that constructors' championship points will go to a 'make' and no longer just a 'constructor'.

Article 20 of the Sporting Regulations states: "The constructor of an engine or rolling chassis is the person (including any corporate or unincorporated body) which owns the intellectual property rights to such engine or chassis.

"The make of an engine or chassis is the name attributed to it by its constructor. If the make of the chassis is not the same as that of the engine, the title will be awarded to the former which shall always precede the latter in the name of the car."

Beyond his views about the regulations, Mosley believes that having more customer cars in Formula One will be better for the sport.

Some team bosses, including BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen, have expressed concerns that chassis sharing could dilute the purity of Grand Prix racing.

"For me it is self evident that you have got to have customer cars," said Mosley. "Formula One cannot afford 12 lots of R&D at the level that the people at the front are spending.

"If you don't have customer cars you end up with people at the back being lapped three or four times during the race. That doesn't help anyone and is miserable for the drivers concerned. I think the customer car issue to me is self evident."

Despite his beliefs, Mosley admits that some teams may still try and block the move to customer cars.

"We live in a democracy so we will see what everyone else wants to do," he said. "But for me I cannot see any way of having a 12-team competitive grid with 24 good cars, and giving even the drivers in the small team a chance."

Mosley did not want to get drawn into the current arguments between Spyker, Super Aguri and Toro Rosso - saying that it is right the matter is being dealt with by arbitration.

"There is a dispute there about what the Concorde Agreement means. And fortunately there is a clause in the Agreement that sends disputes like that to arbitration. So if they cannot agree then they go to arbitration.

"It is not directly our problem. It is just two completely different views of what the Agreement says."