Formula One teams sign new deal

The future of Formula One has been secured after all but one of the current teams and new outfits signed an agreement setting out the terms under which they will compete until 2012.

After threats of a breakaway earlier in the season the new deal is a triumph for the FIA and its outgoing boss Max Mosley, who incurred the wrath of the teams by attempting to impose budget cuts on them.

The FIA statement confirmed that a final agreement had been reached over the issue of cost-cutting - the issue that had led to the earlier rows.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: Derek Clements, Sunday Times: "Peace has broken out in Formula One, with 12 teams finally signing a new Concorde Agreement, which safeguards the sport until the end of 2012. FIA president Max Mosley will claim he has persuaded the teams to reduce their budgets, while the teams will say that, yes, they have agreed to reduce expenditure to mid-1990s levels, but on their own terms. Mosley originally demanded a £40m cap on each team’s annual budget."
The Sunday Telegraph: "The agreement, which runs until the end of 2012, brings to a close months of wrangling between motor sport's world governing body and the Formula One Teams' Association over the governance of the sport. BMW Sauber, who this week confirmed they would pull out of Formula One at the end of the season, are the only current team to have not signed the document. It is understood BMW's bosses have until Wednesday to sign the document, a move which would allow any backer taking over the team to benefit from the Concorde Agreement's provisions." ·