Mosley calls cost-cuts meeting
FIA president Max Mosley has stepped in to try and resolve the difference of opinions between teams about how to cut costs in Formula 1 by calling a meeting next month to discuss a plan of action
Mosley, who has long campaigned for action to be taken about cutting costs in F1, will meet with team bosses on January 28 to try and find a unified way forward to help prevent trouble further down the road.
The FIA has not been involved in recent discussions to cut costs in the sport - with nine of the sport's 10 teams agreeing to reduce testing by around half and make moves towards a control tyre from the start of 2006.
The problem with that agreement has, however, been that Ferrari has rejected those plans - fearing that as Bridgestone's only front-running team its competitiveness would be compromised by a dramatic reduction in testing.
Only last week autosport.com also revealed that Honda was against a dramatic reduction of testing down to 24 days during the season.
With splits beginning to appear between the teams about a unified way forward, Mosley will attempt to ram home the message that action needs to be taken.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Mosley said: "If we do not do something this year, we will have the same crisis in 2006 and we won't get 10 entries [on the grid]. This sport desperately needs new blood. We need to attract new teams. We have attended to safety as much as we can for next year. Now we must urgently look at costs.
"This business could be profitable, with teams queuing up to take part. Yet what we have is millions spent on silly things that people in the grandstands neither see nor care about. Why do teams need 100 people working on electronics? It takes 1,000 people to put two cars on the grid. If anyone thinks that does not need sorting out they don't know what they are talking about."
The teams themselves have already scheduled a meeting in early January to try and agree their own way forwards - although this may now be delayed to coincide with Mosley's gathering.
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