Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

Montezemolo unflustered by new Mosley threat

June 27, 2009 18:59 IST

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has avoided entering into a new public row with Max Mosley by largely ignoring the FIA president's fresh threats about the future of the Formula One.

Montezemolo, as head of the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA), came to an agreement with the governing FIA Wednesday to scrap Mosley's planned budget cap and avert a breakaway series. Mosley also said he would stand down in October.

However, Mosley has since suggested that the deal could collapse unless Montezemolo apologised for comments about him.

In a forum with fans on the Ferrari website (www.ferrari.com), Montezemolo did not apologise and continued to praise the virtues of Wednesday's deal.

"I think that in a frame of stable rules it is very important to do everything possible to increase Formula One's level of spectacle, maintaining the principles of sport and technological competition," he said.

"What I can guarantee you is that Ferrari and FOTA are busy keeping the spirit and the essence of F1 alive, constantly listening to our fans."

An empowered FOTA has said it wants to make Formula One more exciting but Montezemolo again refused to go into specific details when asked if grand prix qualification may change.

"Inside FOTA the teams are checking several options to make the days before the races more interesting. There are several proposals right now on the table," he said.

Mosley said Friday the threat of FOTA setting up a breakaway championship had not gone away despite the peace deal but Montezemolo was already thinking about F1 for next season.

"For the next year all the teams have already decided not to use KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) in F1," he confirmed.

Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.