But to the dismay of the smaller, excluded teams, who complain the
distribution of money from Ecclestone’s company is far more inequitable than
sports such as the Premier League, Todt announced in Bahrain that he could
not garner sufficient support for a cap.
“Discrimination against any single team would also on the face of it also seem
to be an abuse of a dominant position,” the teams wrote in their letter to
Todt this month, seen by Telegraph Sport. “The European Union
competition laws are supposed to prevent abuse of market power and ensure
that free competition prevails – it is becoming more and more apparent that
the current governance structure adopted within Formula One substantially
favours certain teams over others.”
It is understood a reply was sent to the four smaller teams – Force India,
Marussia, Sauber and Caterham – but they in turn wrote back to reiterate
their dissatisfaction. The smallest budget in Formula One, for Marussia, is
believed to be around £60 million, while that of the biggest teams is as
much as five times that.
While any investigation by the European Commission, who last were involved
with Formula One in 2001, is not thought to be imminent with elections
looming, the prospect of a return will be a major headache for many in the
sport, including the FIA.
An investigation concluded in June 2001 demanded the FIA be divorced from the
commercial arm of the sport. It said they had agreed to “establish a
complete separation of the commercial and regulatory functions in relation
to the Formula One World Championship”.
However, under the agreement made with Ecclestone last year, the FIA was given
the option to buy shares in F1 for $460,000, which were worth $70 million at
the time of signing.
It is understood that the FIA did not consult the Commission as to whether the
new deal was in breach of European law, because it did not think the
shareholding changed the underlying relationship of the regulator and the
commercial rights holder.
Remarkably the Commission were unable to say whether they had been approached
by the FIA, simply adding in a statement: “The Commission is following
developments in the sports sector, including in Formula One, and monitors
compliance with EU competition rules.”
An EU investigation would also be a major headache for CVC Capital Partners,
the sport’s controlling shareholder, as it would ruin any potential
flotation of the sport on the stock markets.
The four aggrieved smaller teams – Toro Rosso are effectively an extension of
Red Bull – head in to Thursday’s meeting continuing to argue for an overall
cap on costs.
In place of a cap a series of proposals have been sent to the strategy group
which look at alternative ways of making Formula One cheaper. These include
a reintroduction of active suspension, last legal in 1993 when Williams
utilised the technology to dominate the sport, a ban on tyre warmers, and
increased curfews at race weekends.