FOTA hails new Concorde Agreement

FOTA also stated that it would support any initiative to allow the BMW-Sauber team to sign up at a later date, should the outfit be on the grid in any form next season.

A statement from FOTA read: "Signed by all Formula 1 teams, with the only exception of BMW-Sauber AG, the FIA, and Formula One Administration (FOA), Concorde 2009 lays down the commercial and regulatory guidelines for Formula 1 whilst guaranteeing the teams' until the end of the 2012 season.

"FOTA will support any initiative which would allow BMW-Sauber AG to reapply for full participation within the new Concorde Agreement."

The German manufacturer has yet to make clear its intentions on the fate of the team however, though it was given a deadline of today to sign up to the agreement.

The statement also indicated that the teams had come to a voluntary accord over how to reduce spending over time in Formula 1.

"All Formula 1 teams have together reached a voluntary agreement on their own, which will put into practice FOTA's long-standing objective gradually to reduce overall spending, eventually to around the levels of the early 1990s," read the statement.

"The terms of Concorde 2009 will reinvigorate the role of the Formula 1 Commission and various other Working Groups. The Formula 1 Commission will henceforth be a key decision-making body for change in Formula 1.

"FOTA's attention will now turn to other issues we believe to be in the long-term interest of F1: racing at the best tracks, in front of the biggest audiences and expanding F1's reach."

FIA president Max Mosley signed the agreement last weekend.