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FIA to discuss team entry fees hike

The FIA is to discuss a dramatic rise of almost 150 percent in the entry fees for teams competing in Formula One next year, to help pay for services and equipment, in its World Council Meeting in Paris tomorrow

Less than a week after drivers went public in venting their frustrations at the escalation in the cost of their mandatory superlicence, the FIA is to consider raising the cost of a team's entry in F1 from this year's 300,000 euros to 740,000 euros.

The move comes because the FIA wants the teams to pay for improved safety and logistical facilities provided at races, as it is no longer willing to bankroll their provision itself.

The plans have been revealed in an agenda for tomorrow's meeting in Paris that has been seen by autosport.com.

The services that the FIA wants teams to pay for from the start of next year are:

1) A marshalling and positioning system (known as F1MS) that provides race control with real time information about a car's location on the track and enables light signals to be sent to cars. The total cost for this is 1,026,000 euros.

2) The increased use of light panels around the track to supplement flag signals - which not only provide better visibility for drivers but also give race control a more accurate record of what signals are shown when. The total cost for this is 1,232,000 euros.

3) The Surveillance Data Record (SDR), which is fitted to cars to monitor car parameters and also gather data in the event of a crash. This has been used for the past six years and, although the teams have previously paid the supplier directly, this will now be sourced directly through the FIA. The cost of this is 130,900 euros.

4) A new Pit Lane and Garage Network to provide a totally secure messaging service to replace the need for paper copies of documents from race control or the stewards. All FIA communication with teams would be done via this network and, with teams having to acknowledge receipt, it would prevent the kind of situation that happened in Japan last year when Ferrari claimed they failed to receive an email detailing the use of wet tyres. The network would also distribute the F1MS information, weather data and car data from the SDR and Standard ECU. The cost of this is 70,400 euros for each team.

5) Weather forecast. The provision of weather information to the teams costs the FIA 485,000 Euros per year.

6) Pit wall intercom system. The intercom system that has been used by teams for the past six years to speak directly to race control has cost 780,000 euros. The cost of this will be split between the teams, with the FIA also making an equal contribution.

Based on ten teams competing, the raft of safety and logistical measures will cost each outfit 428,700 euros per year.

That is why the FIA wants to raise the entry fee from this year's 300,000 euros up to 740,000 euros, which also takes into account an index link rise of 3.7 percent.

Although such an increase in fees may at first appear draconian, it comes on the back of FIA president Max Mosley making it clear that he wants the sport's commercial rights holders to increase the amount of money they pay the teams from track and television rights.

The FIA is set to indicate on Wednesday that it will only sign a new Concorde Agreement if there is a dramatic rise in the income that the teams receive from Ecclestone.

The FIA and commercial rights holders Bernie Ecclestone and his financial backers CVC Capital Partners are at loggerheads over what should be in a new Concorde Agreement, and the FIA's decision to make teams pay for services that have been provided by it for some time must be viewed as part of the ongoing situation between the FIA and Formula One Management.

It is clear the FIA is losing patience with Ecclestone, and the imposition of a fee hike will also show the teams just how valuable the role of the FIA has been in recent years.

The rising costs will also likely make the teams keener to improve any financial terms they get off Ecclestone to offset their rise in costs - or put pressure on Ecclestone to pay the FIA directly himself.

The FIA is also to consider opening the period of entries for next year's world championship from July 1 to July 31 - meaning any new outfit will have just one month to put together their plans.

The World Council is also due to discuss the 2009 F1 regulations, the work of their various commissions, and the Motor Sport Development Fund.

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