Williams blocks Michael Schumacher's Plans to Test Car Ahead of F1 Return

Michael Schumacher's bid to step up his comeback by testing Ferrari's current car has been blocked by Formula One rivals Williams.

Ferrari last week wrote to the other nine Formula One teams and the FIA requesting Schumacher be granted a day at the wheel of the F60 ahead of the German legend's return to racing at the European Grand Prix in Valencia on August 23.

Under current regulations in-season testing is banned, but Schumacher hasn't raced since his retirement in 2006, so Ferrari were hoping the seven-time world champion, who is standing in for Felipe Massa after the Brazilian's horrific crash in Hungary, would be allowed to practise.

Out of courtesy, the other seven members of the Formula One Teams' Association – McLaren, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber, Brawn GP, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso – gave Schumacher and Ferrari the green light.

Williams, however, see no reason why Schumacher should be given special dispensation, citing the recent arrival of 19-year-old rookie Jaime Alguersuari into F1.

"While we welcome Michael Schumacher back to Formula One, the fact is any form of in-season circuit testing is strictly prohibited, a regulation clearly laid out by the FIA and adhered to by all of the teams," said Williams in a statement.

"It was for this reason Alguersuari, who drove an F1 car for the first time in Hungary, did not have the opportunity to familiarise himself with the Toro Rosso before he made his race debut.

"Williams sees no distinction between Alguersuari's situation and Schumacher's and feels any deviation from the rule would create a precedent for the future.

"For the sake of consistency and fairness, therefore, we oppose Ferrari's proposal to test ahead of the European Grand Prix."

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BMW announce it will quit Formula One at the end of 2009 season

Already hit by the departure of Honda, Formula One suffered another blow on Wednesday as BMW confirmed it would be quitting the sport at the end of the season.

"The BMW Group will not continue its Formula One campaign after the end of the 2009 season,'' BMW chairman Norbert Reithofer said.

"Of course, this was a difficult decision for us, but it's a resolute step in view of our company's strategic realignment,'' he said.

"Premium will be increasingly defined in terms of sustainability and environmental compatibility. This is an area in which we want to remain in the lead.

"We are continually reviewing all projects and initiatives to check them for future viability and sustainability.

"Our Formula One campaign is thus less a key promoter for us.''

While rumours of the possible departures of Renault and Toyota have been flying around the paddock all season, that of BMW comes as a surprise.

And it had looked as if the sport's future was assured when the FIA, motor racing's governing body, announced the completion of negotiations between the FOA (Formula One administration) and the 13 teams who will race in 2010.

It had been thought that this Concorde Agreement, meant to link the two sides until 2012, also included the BMW Sauber team.

The FIA said however they regretted the German team's decision and hoped the sport had seen the last departure of a major manufacturer.

"The FIA regrets the announcement of BMW's intended withdrawal from Formula One but is not surprised by it,'' the FIA said in a statement.

"It has been clear for some time that motor sport cannot ignore the world economic crisis.

"Car manufacturers cannot be expected to continue to pour large sums of money into Formula One when their survival depends on redundancies, plant closures and the support of the taxpayer.''

BMW have been badly hit by the current economic crisis with profits tumbling by 89.5 percent in 2008 compared to 2007, and group sales dropping 19.5 percent in the first half of 2009.

It is also believed the company found it hard to justify spending on Formula One following a poor campaign with drivers Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica scoring just eight points this season to leave the team eighth in the nine-team constructors' championship.

BMW arrived in Formula One in 2000 and in 2005 took over the Swiss team Sauber, to become the BMW Sauber stable which now employs 730 people.

Its only Grand Prix win as BMW Sauber came when Kubica won in Canada in 2008, while he also achieved the team's only pole position in Bahrain, also in 2008.

The team finished third last season behind Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes.

Meanwhile, the FIA said they hoped there would be no more departures from the sport.

"This is why the FIA prepared regulations to reduce costs drastically,'' the FIA said.

"These measures were needed to alleviate the pressure on manufacturers following Honda's withdrawal, but also to make it possible for new teams to enter.

"Had these regulations not been so strongly opposed by a number of team principals, the withdrawal of BMW and further such announcements in the future might have been avoided.

"Nevertheless, as a result of a sustained cost-cutting campaign by the FIA, new measures are in the process of being agreed which should make it easier for new teams to enter and enable existing ones to participate on much-reduced budgets.

"Hopefully it will be enough to prevent further withdrawals and provide a solid foundation for Formula One.''

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F1 reaches compromise; Mosley to step down

PARIS (AP) — A breakaway Formula One series was averted Wednesday when Max Mosley ceded to the rebel teams' demand that a planned budget cap be scrapped and the FIA president said he won't seek re-election.

Mosley will immediately take a back-seat role until his 16-year reign ends in October — a move that will help to end the acrimonious atmosphere that has blighted F1 in recent months.

STANDINGS: Formula One points

"There will be no split. There will be one F1 championship in 2010," Mosley said at FIA's Paris headquarters.

"They've got the rules they want and they've got the stability. We've got the new teams and we've got the cost reduction."

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Mosley backed down on the voluntary $65 million budget cap at the World Motorsport Council. Instead, teams were given a watered-down order to reduce costs to early 1990s levels.

But the Formula One Teams Association, which instigated the breakaway, had already implemented a series of cost-cutting measures themselves this season amid the global economic downturn, restricting on-track testing and the use of wind tunnels for aerodynamic testing.

Further efforts to create savings on engines and gearboxes in the next three years had already been announced by FOTA in May to help attract new teams. Campos Meta, Manor and Team US F1 will make their debuts next season. Additional cuts are expected to be agreed to Thursday at a FOTA meeting in Bologna, Italy.

"I am pleased FOTA's proposals have been endorsed and approved by the WMSC today," said John Howett, FOTA's vice chairman and Toyota Motorsport president. "We look forward to working with the FIA Senate to achieve a prosperous and exciting future for Formula One and its millions of fans around the world."

FOTA's members — Ferrari, McLaren, BMW Sauber, Renault, Toyota, Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Brawn GP — opposed the budget cap because it would have given those who signed up greater technical freedom than those who refused, creating a two-tier championship next season.

"We're very happy that common sense has prevailed as I always believed it would because the alternative was not good at all," said Bernie Ecclestone, F1's commercial rights holder. "Everything is in good shape."

The FIA also expects the teams to sign on to a new Concorde Agreement, the confidential commercial document governing the sport.

Last weekend's British Grand Prix had been overshadowed by the split between the FIA and FOTA members, some of whom were branded "loonies" by Mosley after their decision to form a rival series.

Mosley announced plans to sue FOTA on Friday, but backed down 48 hours later when he insisted that a deal was close.

What will help heal the rifts is the departure of the often divisive Mosley after four terms. His leadership style was criticized as too autocratic and was blamed by many of the teams for precipitating the split between FOTA and the FIA.

Even as the crisis intensified over the weekend, Mosley was still planning to run for a fifth term.

But he said Wednesday: "The teams were always ... going to get rid of me in October. Whether the person who succeeds me will be more to their taste than I am remains to be seen."

Mosley has been the president of the FIA, the international automobile federation that governs Formula One, since 1993. FIA Senate president Michel Boeri will effectively be in charge until the election.

"It is a great relief and that is going to enable me to take a step back for the summer," Mosley said. "I will be able to look at Formula One knowing it's peaceful and stable, and I will be able to stop — as was always my intention — in October of this year."

"This for me is an enormous relief," Mosley added, referring to "personal difficulties" he has faced.

His son, Alexander Mosley, was found dead at his luxury apartment May 5 after an accidental drug overdose.

The 69-year-old FIA president, the son of former British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, was at the center of a media frenzy last year when a tabloid newspaper reported he took part in a sadomasochistic orgy with five prostitutes in London. A video of the incident was widely circulated on the Internet.

Mosley successfully sued the News of the World for invasion of privacy.

The episode brought calls for Mosley's ouster as FIA president, but he won an overwhelming vote of confidence to stay on.

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Best Photo of BMW Sauber

Best Photo of BMW Sauber

Best Image of BMW Sauber

BMW Sauber One in Team F1 Race

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