FIA believed teams supported new rules

The FIA believed it was acting with the full support of the teams when it introduced a new 'winner-takes-all' points system ahead the new Formula 1 season, according to its president Max Mosley

By:

Simon Strang

Mar 21, 2009, 11:24 AM

The sport's governing body announced yesterday that it was prepared to defer the new system until 2010 if the teams were unhappy about it.

This was in response to a statement from the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) on Friday questioning the validity of the rule change.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph: "Bernie [Ecclestone, F1's commercial rights holder] told me that he talked to all the teams and everybody was happy.

"I was led to believe they all agreed. The World Council was under the impression that they had all agreed."

FOTA believes that the new rules, which will see the world championship handed to the driver with the most wins during the season, could not be changed at this late stage without unanimous support of the teams.

In light of complaints from leading figures, the FIA has now said that if the teams are unhappy then the introduction of the wins systems will be delayed until 2010.