Insiders added that the threat of EU intervention, cited in a letter a letter
to Todt last month, had left many of the teams nervous. “The mention of the
EU touched a nerve,” a source said.
The plan now is for proposals to be put forward, before another meeting of the
Strategy Group, then the F1 Commission, before overall approval at the World
Motorsport Council on June 26.
It appears as if the likelihood of an overall cap for 2015 is over, although
the four smaller aggrieved teams – Caterham, Force India, Marussia, Sauber –
hope to eventually push the agenda back in that direction.
So far ideas for reducing costs include active suspension, a simplification of
front and rear wings, increased curfews, and so on. But a source said this
amounted to “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic” and that more
substantial savings need to be found.
An EU investigation would be a nightmare for Formula One. It would scupper
plans by the majority shareholder, CVC Capital Partners, to float the sport
on the stock exchange, and it could invalidate a series of commercial deals
made between the teams and Ecclestone.