Dennis Accuses FIA of 'Dictatorial' Behaviour

McLaren boss Ron Dennis has said that the introduction of the 2003 rules had been without proper consultation and was "effectively a dictatorial process" imposed by International Automobile Federation (FIA) president Max Mosley.

McLaren and Williams accused Formula One's governing body of "dumbing down" the sport by dictatorial means on Thursday and said they would go to arbitration to challenge recent rule changes.

"The FIA is trying to 'dumb down' Formula One," declared Dennis.

"Williams and McLaren believe that the FIA is in breach of the contract that covers the running of the world championship," the two teams declared in a joint statement. "While continuing to take part in the 2003 championship, the teams will be seeking to challenge the FIA's rule changes through the sport's arbitration process."

The FIA issued a terse statement expressing confidence that their position would be upheld, while Federation sources said the teams' move was regrettable but not unexpected.

The season starts in Australia on March 9 in a rare state of anticipation and uncertainty with a raft of changes, including a revamped single lap qualifying format, as part of measures designed to cut costs and try to make the sport more competitive.

Refuelling between qualifying and the race is banned and cars will be effectively impounded from Saturday afternoon to the race morning. Engineers will no longer be able to change settings from a distance using telemetry, as McLaren did last year to help David Coulthard win in Monaco, and electronic "driver aids" are banned from the British Grand Prix in July.

Year Wait

The teams' action is set to overshadow the season with Dennis saying it was likely to be a year before a ruling emerged from the arbitration court in Switzerland.

"People might say 'In that case, why go forward," added Dennis. "Our objective in going through this process is to ensure that we have a stable, well run and professionally administered sport. Change in Grand Prix racing has to be long-term and strategic, not short-term and knee-jerk."

Dennis ruled out tougher action, such as possibly boycotting a race, saying that teams had learnt from past mistakes.

"We don't think revolution is the way forward just as a dictatorial stance by the governing body is not conducive to securing the future of Grand Prix racing," he said.

Williams said the action was a question of principle, the grievance more to do with the manner in which the rules have been introduced than the rules themselves.

"Clearly we will be racing under the new rules from the first race and will be doing so whole-heartedly to beat Ferrari," he added.

Williams finished second and McLaren third last season while Ferrari won 15 of the 17 races. The champions' new car has looked even better than the F2002 in pre-season testing.

Safety Fears

Both team bosses echoed fears that the rule changes, which have been generally well received by the media and public, could stop Formula One being a showcase for the highest level of technology and research.

"Some of these changes are against the spirit of Formula One, its restless drive for excellence and its need to live on the technological cutting edge," said Williams.

They also raised safety concerns, arguing that the changes increased dangers rather than reducing them.

"I believe the biggest issue is safety," said Dennis, highlighting a concern that banning two-way telemetry took away a car's 'life-support' systems and made the risk of mechanical failure more likely. The new rule ordering cars into closely supervised overnight 'parc ferme' conditions effectively reduced the amount of time available to teams to prepare their cars from 18.5 hours to 2.5.

"If an engine fails on a high-speed corner, that's an inherent danger," said Dennis.

Both men said Mosley was also taking an "unnecessarily pessimistic" view of the sport's future and said his proposals would remove and destroy many of the aspects behind its popularity. Dennis said the teams currently receive just 23 percent of the revenues generated by Formula One.

"If there was a more balanced share of that money, then the smaller teams currently struggling...would be in a much better shape," he said.

Two teams, Arrows and Prost, have disappeared from the grid in little more than a year because of financial problems and Minardi and Jordan have lost key sponsors.