Ferrari loses court-case over budget

Ferrari Loses Its Appeal Against FIA's Budget Cap


After Tuesday's hearings, a French court ruled on Wednesday that Ferrari had no valid arguments against FIA's budget-cap proposals.

Ferrari's claim that "the FIA has broken contractual obligations over rule changes" was dismissed by the court, thereby giving the go ahead to FIA's proposals for the 2010 season.

Ferrari has gambled and lost in the battle with the FIA over 2010 season rules. In my idea this is a very unfavourable development, weakening the position of the teams and reinforcing FIA's stronghold.

How could Ferrari take such a risk? Did they believe they would win the court-case? Or were they really so desperate that they felt they should grasp whatever chance they may have to fight FIA?

The F1 teams, united in the FOTA, now have to act fast in a renewed attempt to have the FIA allow for a more lenient or no budget-cap and equal rules for all teams, regardless of their spending.

Team-bosses are set to meet in Monaco prior to this weekends Monaco Grand-Prix.

May 29 is the deadline for the teams to register for next season. If FIA will enforce the proposals as they are, we may see several of the big teams like Ferrari, Toyota, and Renault quit Formula 1 racing under FIA rule.

Drama in F1 has only increased after this court-ruling.



Originally written on May 20, 2009 for BR http://bleacherreport.com/articles/179558-ferrari-loses-appeal-against-fias-budg...