F1 set for control parts

Mosley said that he wants to see traction control and driver aids firmly controlled and added: "at the moment we have a situation in Formula 1 where at many circuits the cars are at full throttle for 65-70 percent of the lap, whereas in Moto GP the figure is more like 10-20 percent. That is clearly wrong." The ECUs would also be used to limit the amount of testing that teams could do.

On the subject of where the teams would stand in the event of a failure of a standard issue FIA ECU, he said: "I'm afraid that it would be bad luck. When we analyse the failures that teams have with, say, the fuel rigs, and compare them with the general success rate of those teams, we tend to find that they are quite closely related."

On the subject of a single tyre rule being against Formula 1's general spirit of competitiveness, given that money is also heavily spent on chassis and engine competition, Mosley was firm. His attitude is that chassis and engines are fundamental to a manufacturers championship, whereas a tyre is purely an accessory and has a disproportionate influence on the performance of the car. Limiting them allows the FIA to control grip levels, which is fundamental to safety, and drastically reduce testing costs.

"I can obviously understand that the tyre companies want competition," he said, "but that competition will come in submitting the most competitive tender if they want to be in F1."

Mosley added that as tyre companies are required to five the FIA a year's notice of their intention to either compete or withdraw, the governing body is also required to give tyre companies a year's notice of regulation changes affecting them. Even with unanimous agreement, therefore, a single tyre rule could only be introduced for the 2006 season at the earliest.