Last FOTA meeting to discuss the FIA’s offer

The team directors will hold a meeting from 8 p.m. at Renault’s headquarters in Enstone to discuss their response to the FIA’s offer. The aim is to resolve the issue of conditional entries for the 2010 championship.

As revealed yesterday, the president of the FIA, Max Mosley, described the conditions he would be willing to accept from teams that are currently not registered. The deadline for their response is set for tomorrow.

Mosley proposes a compromise with a budget cap of 100 million euros for next year and claims he is ready to address governance concerns with a new Concorde Agreement. The only condition is that the teams must agree to join the 2010 championship unconditionally on their part.

Some sources claim that the teams are not entirely satisfied with what has been offered. Consequently, a meeting of the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) was organized at Renault’s factory at 7 PM local time (8 PM in France).

No statement on the conclusions of this meeting is expected tonight, but the teams have until the close of business on Friday to meet the conditions attached to their entry. Otherwise, they will not be allowed to participate in the 2010 championship.

The FIA is in discussions with a number of other teams for a spot on the grid next year if one or more current teams withdraw.

The FIA has already placed Ferrari, Red Bull Racing, and Scuderia Toro Rosso on its official list because it believes these teams have a commitment to uphold. This agreement was signed with the governing body and Bernie Ecclestone several years ago.

The FIA president, Max Mosley, is expected to be present tomorrow at Silverstone.