Midland not to blame for engine block

The sport's manufacturers openly admitted last weekend that the key to a deal was in getting a commercial settlement to ensure a supply of cheap engines for independent teams.

Amid a continued failure to reach a deal, autosport.com understands that matters reached a head in a team principal's meeting on Saturday afternoon when McLaren boss Ron Dennis heavily criticised Midland's Colin Kolles for the delays in getting a deal.

But Midland have maintained that it is not their stance, but rather a manufacturers' decision to go back on an offer of cheap engines at Indianapolis that is the real cause of the failure to reach agreement.

Midland were one of two teams that in France refused to sign off the 'Indianapolis Agreement' for part homologation, as they, along with Prodrive, believed that the terms of offer for the customer teams were not good enough. This meant the manufacturers were unable to present a unanimous proposal to the FIA before the 4pm deadline.

But autosport.com can reveal that Midland had earlier backed a plan for cheap customer engines at the United States Grand Prix - and that it was the manufacturers and other teams who subsequently went back on that deal, forcing Midland to then start fighting their corner once again.

Sources claim that on the Sunday morning at Indianapolis, the teams put together a package of commercial terms that would be offered to the independent teams in exchange for them backing the 'Indianapolis Agreement' on part-homologation from 2007.

The document, a copy of which has been obtained by autosport.com, was drawn up and promised that

1) No engine manufacturer will supply more than one independent team. (Unless any of the current engine manufacturers withdraw from Formula One).

2) The engine manufacturers will actively support significant testing restrictions in 2007 and beyond.

3) Collectively the engine manufacturers will ensure that all of the current independent teams will be offered engine supply from 2007 to 2010 inclusive.

4) The engine manufacturers agree to supply and support the independent teams at cost. In any event the manufacturers undertake that the engine unit price over the next four years shall be no greater than $200,000 for a 1500km engine of equivalent specification to its principle (sic) team. In addition the engine manufacturers undertake to support each independent team with six personnel and appropriate hydraulic and telemetry systems for an additional payment of no greater than $2million. (Teams to pay all relevant travel arrangements for support arrangements.)

The document was signed by BMW's Mario Theissen, Mercedes-Benz's Norbert Haug, Toyota's John Howett, Williams' Frank Williams, Aguri Suzuki, Honda's Otmar Szafnauer, Renault's Flavio Briatore and Midland's Colin Kolles.

The team signatures missing from the document were Ferrari, Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Toro Rosso and Prodrive.

Ferrari, and therefore their customer team Red Bull Racing, did not sign it on the Sunday, because they were waiting subsequent clarification over the technical issue after Indianapolis, while Prodrive representatives were not in America to be able to put their signature on it. Scuderia Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost has said he would have signed it if every other team had backed it.

Although the deal collapsed because it did not have unanimous support at the time, it proves that Midland were ready to accept the Indianapolis Agreement, before the manufacturers then changed the terms of the $200,000 per engine offer.

Sources suggest that manufacturers changed their stance and would not offer engines for any less than $375,000. The support costs had mounted to $3.125 million - as well as being fixed for five years.

It was only at this point that Midland withdrew their support for the commercial package and left the manufacturers trying to come up with an alternative plan to create an 'Engine Fund.'

When asked whether it was true that Midland had backed the Indianapolis document that promised $200,000 engines, Kolles said: "This was basically what we heard. But yes, this is what we wanted. We had already signed it."