Fry: FIA talks conducted in good faith

With F1 rocked by the decision of FOTA to reject the FIA's rules for 2010 and instead choose to set up its own championship, all eyes are now on the next move by the governing body, with next year's entry list due to be published tomorrow.

The FIA issued a statement on Friday morning claiming that elements within FOTA had never intended to reach a deal to secure F1's future, and that talks between the two parties had not been engaged in 'good faith.'

Fry, however, has rejected such claims, and insists that the decision by FOTA to launch its own series was not taken without much thought.

"We had good discussions last night but it was a very difficult decision," said Fry at Silverstone. "The negotiations with Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley had some length and were conducted in good faith, but we did not get to where we wanted, so we'll do something different."

Fry said that there was not one single factor that proved insurmountable for the teams, but it was rather a number of factors that forced them to act.

"It's a combination of things," he said. "Some of the decision-making has been done without the consensus of competitors. The drive to reduce costs is supported by the teams but the processes are not supported by a number of teams.

"Costs have got too high for our team, so for smaller teams getting down to a figure like that is not so much of an issue. It's a much more difficult task for bigger teams and they need more time to do it."

And Fry echoed comments from Red Bull Racing's Christian Horner that it was now up to the FIA to sort the matter out.

"I hope the discussions will continue," he said. "The ball is in Max Mosley's court. I do hope from our point of view discussions can continue.

"The way by which we reduce the costs needs to be agreed. Principally it's a process issue. Our company had to restructure at the start of this year following the withdrawal of Honda. Some companies are much larger and have agreements with their staff. Those based in Germany and Italy, there are trade unions involved."