FOTA declares breakaway from F1

This weekend looks certain to be the final British Grand Prix to be held at Silverstone but there's an even bigger shock in store for F1 fans. The long standing row over the proposed budget caps in F1 scheduled to be put into force from the 2010 season seems to have come to its inevitable disastrous end. All eight teams of the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) have announced that in light of the failure of negotiations between the FIA and themselves, will form a breakaway series from F1.

This comes as a tragic conclusion to 'discussions' between Formula 1's governing body and FOTA - which includes the biggest names in F1 - Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, BMW, Brawn GP, Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Toyota. The teams had submitted conditional entries for the 2010 season earlier this month and said they would be a part of F1 next year if the FIA managed to lift the budget restrictions that they wanted to impose. The FIA had given the teams up till today to remove all the 'ifs' from their entries and agree to an unconditional participation in 2010. Both parties have failed to reach common ground on the negotiations and what we have now is the eight FOTA teams vying for a breakaway series.

The split in F1 is the worst crisis to hit F1 ever. But while fans may be disappointed - there's actually a silver lining to the situation - more racing! The eight premiere teams in F1 have supposedly already approached Dorna - the company that holds the rights for MotoGP for all functioning of the new series. So they might just walk away from F1 and set up a brand new franchise that will house the same teams, drivers and sponsors that we're already so used to seeing. Formula 1 meanwhile, will have to make do with what's left - Williams, Force India and the three new entrants - US F1, Manor Racing and Campos Racing. The FIA will also most likely give a green signal to other teams that had shown their eagerness to be a part of F1 but were left out in the 2010 entry list. The big question now is - will those teams want to be a part of a racing series devoid of all the glamour that came from names like Ferrari, McLaren, BMW, etc? Lola has already withdrawn their prospective entry, but could other hopefuls follow suit? That is a question that will be answered in the coming weeks as the formalities for the 2010 season come to a close.

All the teams are at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix this weekend - after all, the 2010 season may be controversial, but 2009 hasn't even reached the half way mark yet. It'll be interesting to see the atmosphere there as all ten existing F1 teams gather to battle it out probably for the last time ever at the legendary Silverstone circuit under the F1 banner.