F1’s strife nears an end as FIA announces imminent signing of new Concorde Agreement

F1 deal near with new Concorde Agreement in sight

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Formula One’s strife could be nearing an end after FIA said Friday the document that governs the sport could be signed by next week.

F1’s governing body said its World Motor Sports Council had received the new Concorde Agreement, which would come into effect “on receipt of confirmation that a satisfactory cost-reduction agreement is in place.”

All 13 teams registered for next season’s championship negotiated the document, FIA said in the statement.

“I think that we are very, very close to reaching a solution,” Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said. “As always with such a complexity, the closer you get to the goal the more everyone is trying to squeeze or to find different things around it. But I am optimistic that before the August break everything will be sorted out.”

FIA president Max Mosley has been looking to cut costs since Honda’s exit in December, but his proposal to slash budgets to $60 million by 2010 has been criticized by most teams as being too difficult.

The Formula One Teams Association — made up of eight leading teams, including Ferrari and McLaren — had threatened to form a breakaway series. Mosley’s decision not to stay on when his term expires in October appeared to appease the teams.

The teams have, in principle, agreed to carry over the 2009 rules to 2010 and come up with a budget cap for the following seasons. Teams have agreed to rein in costs to levels from the early ’90s and use other measures, such as banning in-season testing.

“I think Formula One has reacted responsibly. It has moved to get its costs under control,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said. “It’s positive to see three new teams entered for next year which would have been impossible, I think, without the resource restrictions that will be introduced.”

The Concorde Agreement also says how much money teams will receive from TV rights on top of setting the rules.