Analysis: Monaco Summit to Shape F1's Future

The future face of Formula One will be brought into sharp focus at a meeting of teams and the sport's governing body on Tuesday.

The team bosses, along with technical experts and engine specialists, have been invited to a Monaco summit to discuss the International Automobile Federation (FIA)'s proposals for a major shake-up from 2008.

FIA president Max Mosley wants to reduce engine capacity, from three litre V10s to 2.4 litre V8s, outlaw most of the sport's electronic gizmos and introduce standard engine control units (ECUs).

Other measures aimed at slashing costs, highlighting driver skill and making Formula One affordable enough for new teams to come in, include having only one tyre supplier.

The radical proposals are the most far-reaching the sport has been presented with and the FIA can impose them from 2008, since the existing 'Concorde Agreement' between them and teams will have expired by then. But they could be introduced earlier with the teams' agreement.

The big question remains the stance of the major carmakers although Ferrari, the sport's biggest and most evocative name, have been supportive of change.

"We think the aim of the proposals is very positive," engine expert Paolo Martinelli said at the last San Marino Grand Prix. "We have to consider what we can do for the future of the sport.

"We have to give priority to safety, to maintain or improve the spectacle and to design a formula that still allows for the peak of technology but at reasonable cost."

Next Step

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo suggested after Imola that the carmakers, who have threatened their own GPWC series from 2008, must now decide whether to stay or call it a day.

"I think maybe to save the future of Formula One everybody has to take their own decisions - stop or commit. I don't see a different solution," he said last week. "What is for sure is that after the end of 2007 we are free, we have no deal with anybody. After that everybody can do whatever they want."

Mosley and Formula One's commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone visited Ferrari's Maranello factory before the Imola race, and before the FIA proposals were made public.

The FIA president has since met BMW motorsport head Mario Theissen, whose company has warned that they are committed to Formula One only for as long as it is attractive from a commercial standpoint.

Theissen has said BMW also supports the FIA's objectives but wants further debate on technical issues, particularly electronics and engine capacity. The signs, with Mosley scheduling a news conference for Tuesday afternoon, are that the FIA president already feels secure enough to move forward.

But while all agree on the need to cut costs, there remains considerable debate about how to do that. Paul Stoddart, boss of struggling Minardi, said he agreed with roughly half of the proposals.

"I'd like to think that Max will look at it objectively because there are things in there that won't suit the sport, things that won't suit the teams," he said. "What we must not fail to do this time is to equalise the sport a little bit. We don't always want to see the same one or two cars win."