Mosley halts legal action, says FIA would still regulate any breakaway series

Mosley says FIA would regulate any rival series

SILVERSTONE, England — The president of motor sports’ governing body said on Sunday that legal action against the eight Formula One teams planning a breakaway series will be halted to encourage reconciliation.

But in another twist to the standoff threatening to tear F1 apart, FIA president Max Mosley said that his organization would still regulate any rival championship.

That’s despite the fact that the teams say they want to leave F1 because talks with Mosley over his plans for a $65 million budget cap in 2010 have collapsed.

After the Formula One Teams Association announced the split on Friday, the governing body had said that proceedings would be issued without delay due to “serious violations of law.”

But Mosley told The Associated Press on Sunday: “I think we would rather talk than litigate. We are very, very close as far as the facts are concerned. It’s just if the teams want to sit down and iron out the last few difficulties.”

While Mosley was claiming progress toward a solution, the eight breakaway teams — McLaren, Ferrari, Renault, BMW Sauber, Toyota, Brawn GP, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso — dismissed that notion.

Mosley recognizes the need for a swift resolution, echoing the declaration by McLaren chief Martin Whitmarsh on Saturday that any deal must come by the end of July.

“I would agree with that,” Mosley said. “If this goes on for any length of time, it damages the teams. It doesn’t affect the FIA, it damages the teams because it affects their sponsors.”

If the proposed series were to start, Mosley said he has informed the teams that the FIA would still be the regulator because of a deal struck between it and the European Commission.

“It’s absolutely correct, we said that to them,” Mosley said. “If they start a new series it would have to run under the sporting code and we would have to give them consent, providing it was safe and fair.”

That was acknowledged by Brawn team principal Ross Brawn.

“You would need a regulatory body,” Brawn said. “Ironically, I think the agreement with the European Commission is that the FIA has to offer to do that to any competitive series that wants to set up.”