Dennis: no rush for new F1 deal
McLaren team principal Ron Dennis has declared himself in no rush to sign up to a new Concorde Agreement, despite Bernie Ecclestone's announcement last week that Ferrari has committed itself to Formula 1 until at least 2012
McLaren's engine supplier Mercedes-Benz is one of the manufacturers that founded the rival GPWC organisation, alongside Renault, BMW, Fiat and Ford (before Jaguar Racing was withdrawn from the sport). But now with Ford gone, and Fiat's team aligned to F1 for the foreseeable future, the GPWC's position as an alternative racing series in 2008 has been significantly weakened.
"This is very much being presented as a 2008 solution and we have a current agreement which is in force to the end of 2007," Dennis said at the launch of the team's MP4-20 at Barcelona. "I have obviously discussed (the matter) with several other teams during the course of the weekend.
"At the moment I have failed to talk to a team that does not have a similar view to ours which is that we must be open-minded and patient and we'll consider the best position for our teams and the best position for the future of Formula 1, but in the right timescale.
"At the moment none of the proposals have any relevance at all to the period between now and the end of 2007 so there's no incentive to rush into any new agreement. That's probably not been the case with Ferrari."
"I presume they have had some financial inducement to enter into some sort of agreement sooner but that's certainly not as I understand it a situation that exists with any of the other teams and certainly not McLaren."
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