F1's unprecedented agreement

Stoddart it was who issued the document to the press corps in the Interlagos paddock on Saturday evening and fielded questions on the implementation of the proposals which, he says, would safeguard the British and French Grands Prix next year. Tony Dodgins was there for autosport.com

Do you need Ferrari's signature or are you guys going to do it without them?

It's too early to say. Michael Schumacher went off this morning and the meeting was timed in a way that didn't really give them an opportunity to attend. It's a question for Ferrari to decide whether they want to join with the other nine teams and support this proposal.



Both Bridgestone and Michelin have given a lot to this sport and I think it's up to Bernie Ecclestone now to ask for their co-operation and suggestions into how we can achieve our aim, which is to enormously reduce the amount of tyre testing that goes on in F1. It is one of the biggest spends.



Absolutely. This is just the beginning. We started off with this and perhaps we can look at the weight limit and all sorts of aspects of the car that force us to spend unnecessary money. The idea is not to dumb F1 down but to actually come up with a better and balanced package of measures that can allow us to go forward and hopefully with 10 teams.



Max, I think you will find, is aware of it and I would hope that his position would be supportive, particularly if we get Ferrari's support.



There are various procedures we could follow but it would be nice to have unanimity. We've all seen it has taken a long time even to get nine teams to agree on any significant change. Don't underestimate how radical this is.



I think it was borne out of a few of us listening to what has been discussed time and time again and struggling with the fact that we are not agreeing as much as we should be. So one or two of us came up with the idea that perhaps we should try at the last race of the season. We've had some things happen this season that nobody would have thought ever would happen and it's time we took control of this sport and acted in a proper and professional manner. I hope that this is the first step towards collective meetings with useful and productive decisions made in the interest of F1 and not any one specific team. There's nothing in this for Minardi, Jordan or Sauber but it's about time we all started to leave our own individual considerations to one side and look to the good of F1. I hope this is the first step.



To see if we can get Ferrari to agree and see if we can have a British and French GP and start saving money. We want to get Ferrari's agreement and then follow up with another meeting to get into more detail. I suspect this will happen in the near future in London.



I think the fact that nine of us have signed up pretty much tells you that in itself. I don't remember the last time that nine of us agreed on something of significance. I think Max should probably be the first one to say, and he has, that the reason his regulations (for 2005/6) have gone through is because eight of us couldn't agree on a set of proposals that were acceptable. This is a major, major step and don't underestimate the seriousness of the teams involved to be doing something eventually to address the problems of F1. This is serious.



No, I think that Friday makes sense. We are all here, we all pay for our hotels and our freight and so it's fair to say that two times two hours of free practice makes a lot of sense. Bear in mind that the bigger teams - particularly the manufacturer teams - all know how many tens of thousands of miles of testing they do, so don't underestimate how big a 'give' this is for them, to actually really do something that is meaningful. They have given in against their best interests, to radically reduce all these costs in F1. I think they should be applauded because I've never seen this sort of agreement go through before.



Significant events have happened this year. We've lost Ford as a manufacturer and let's not underestimate the severity of that. I think we are now seeing - and some of you might say it's about time - team principal meetings that actually have meaningful outcomes, that actually will produce change that is not self-centred. And that is the major, major message we are trying to portray here. Nine of us, and hopefully it will be 10, have agreed on a way forward that will radically reduce the need to spend large amounts of money to be competitive. You can't stop people spending their budgets. Whatever they have got they will spend, but if you can reduce the amount you need to spend to be a competitive team, then we are all going to have better racing, healthier companies, a better spectacle on the track and hopefully a healthier Formula 1.



I can't speak for them but if they don't sign I would imagine that the rest of us are committed to this and the rest of us may well start implementing some of this without Ferrari. It's up to them to decide to join us or not. I can't think of another issue where nine teams went with something and one did not. There are other mechanisms. There is the Technical Working Group that needs eight out of 10, the F1 Commission that needs 18 out of 26. There are measures to bring this in, what non-unanimity would mean is only a delay of the inevitable. This will come in but for it to come in for '05, we need unanimity and, obviously, support from the tyre manufacturers, the FIA, and FOM (Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One Management). But, it will come in. The only thing a non-unanimity position will do to this is affect its timing.



I don't think in any walk of life that the time for negotiation has ever passed if you can improve something. This is the beginning of a new era when teams will actually work together. Max is correct in his statement that the timing for the 2005 sporting regulations has almost passed. It is October 31 but, anyway, we are not trying to have a last-minute vote to change anything. This is the way forward.



He has.



He's only seen it briefly and I have only just got the last signature. I can assure you that Bernie is happy with it and that the nine team principals are happy and I'd like to be saying 10. Ferrari is without doubt the most important part of this championship and we do want them on board with us.



Everyone knows it was Peter (Sauber) and you have all to respect that he has given a lot to sign this (Sauber, due to his commercial links with Ferrari, usually toes the Maranello line). Just bear that in mind. He's a lovely guy.



I think we've just made the British and French GPs very secure, personally. It's good news. And probably what you will all lead on. I hope nobody writes the headline: Ferrari blocks British and French GPs. That wouldn't be very nice...



It's hard to quantify that because where do you draw the line on budget? Let's look at Peter Sauber. He will tell you that his budget is circa $100 million and he's been very successful. We all know there are bigger budgets around but I think we are looking to go the other way. What's it going to take to be competitive? Well, maybe $100-200 million against some of the mega spends that we all know exist. So there's something in this for everyone. The need to test is the single biggest expense in F1 and probably outstrips the racing costs for some teams.