FIA confirms teams cannot miss races
The FIA has clarified the rules regarding teams missing races, after a series of reports that Campos and US F1 were going to skip the first three rounds of the championship.
An FIA statement said:
From a sporting and regulatory point of view, each Team that has registered for the Championship is obliged to take part in every event of the season. Any failure to take part, even for just one Championship event, would constitute an infringement both of the Concorde Agreement and the FIA Regulations.
FIA statement
Stefan GP has already begun sending equipment to Bahrain in the hope that one of the teams won’t make it to the first race and it can take their place.
three4three said on 10th February 2010, 20:16
So, let me see if I understand correctly – according to the Concorde Agreement if a team misses a grand prix they will be in contravention of said agreement and will therefore be penalised; further, (according to clause 13.5 of the same Agreement)if a team were to fail to participate in more than three grand prix they would automatically be withdrawn from the Championship (and no doubt be heavily penalised and sued etc).
If the above is true, I think this is a fair compromise as the FIA have made a realistic assessment of the current circumstances in light of the global economy and the introduction of several new teams. More importantly, this would discourage any team (Campos and/or USF1) from missing the first race in Bahrain and thus potentially not delay the decision as regards Stefan GP as late as the Chinese GP. The way I see it, I would like to see both Campos and USF1 in Bahrain, but failing that I would like to see the FIA make a swift decision and green light Stefan GP if they are indeed ready to race.
wasiF1 said on 11th February 2010, 4:47
I agree.
Zeke said on 11th February 2010, 5:04
Ahhhhh what sweet and blissful news
For one horrible moment there I was worried that F1 and the FIA had finally got their act together.
Good to see Todt suffers from the same affliction as his predesessor Max, the ever extremely contagious(particularly around the F1 paddock)Foot In Mouth Disease, most often curable with a good dose of Foot Up Bum and Pulling Your Head In ,both usually administered by Nurse Bernie.
Jonty said on 11th February 2010, 8:24
What a crazy situation.
FIA wanted more/new teams in F1 because they were afraid (rightly) that manufacturers would pull out whenever it suited them. They selected these new teams buy some strange criterior which excluded two quite well prepared organisations, knowing that they had an almost impossible task to have a competitive car ready for the start of the season.
Now they are going to penalise these teams (who all struggling for money), presumably with massive fine if they are not ready.
Formula 1 will always need new teams/drivers, you cannot expect the same teams to go on for ever! Only Ferrari have been there since day 1.
Yes Minardi, Forte etc. were slow, but look at some of the drivers who got into the sport that way. How are new teams meant to get into the game if they can’t start at the bottom and try to work their way up?
zomtec said on 11th February 2010, 10:15
I think it was a stupid idea to implement a limitation to 13 teams in the concorde agreement. Back in the old days we had pre-qualifying and a natural selection.
Everyone who owns a car fitting to the technical regulations should be allowed to show up at Bahrain. We still have a 107% rule and a 26 car grid so that weŽd see good racing with the advantage of new teams and new talents.
Chaz said on 28th February 2010, 14:27
“would constitute an infringement both of the Concorde Agreement and the FIA Regulations” translates to what sort of repercussions…?