FIA cannot guarantee Prodrive 2009 entry

"There's nothing to stop them entering for 2009," the Briton said in an interview with The Paddock magazine published on the FIA website.

"At the request of his financial backers, (team owner) David (Richards) asked me what guarantee could we give that his entry would be accepted in 2009.

"I had to tell him that he didn't have any guarantee," said Mosley.

"In the normal course of events, Prodrive's entry would be accepted (again), but the situation without the Concorde Agreement is as it was before the Concorde Agreement - people submit entries and the FIA accepts or rejects them."

Mosley said Prodrive had paid a 300,000 euro ($441,400) deposit to compete in 2008 and would probably forfeit that.

"But that's probably it," he added. "I don't think anybody is going to go after them."

Prodrive, who had planned to compete with cars and engines provided by McLaren and Mercedes, last month ruled out their entry in 2008 due to a legal challenge and commercial uncertainty.

Their plans to become effectively a McLaren 'B' team were stymied by former champions Williams, who see the arrival of so-called 'customer cars' as a threat to their existence.

The Formula One rules were due to be changed next year to allow teams to use cars built and designed by others. However the existing teams have yet to sign a new commercial 'Concorde' agreement.

Williams have argued that the use of customer cars is a commercial matter and outside the remit of the FIA.

Prodrive say their planned team could not be viable financially until there is a commercial agreement determining their eligibility to revenues from the constructors' championship.

Mosley said he understood the position of Williams, with hundreds of people employed in building that team's cars, but Formula One needed a degree of technology transfer.

"There's a huge discussion going on about what it is to be a 'constructor'," he said.

"The first item for discussion should be chassis regulations that can offer serious cost savings. Once we've done that, we can decide what can distinguish one chassis from another and how much of the car should be unique to each individual team."