Ferrari seeks to ease Formula 1's RRA concerns amid growing tension
By Jonathan Noble
Monday, October 10th 2011, 14:47 GMT
Ferrari has urged Formula 1 teams to make an effort at this weekend's Korean Grand Prix to try and end unease about overspending in the sport on the back of fresh concerns about the Resource Restriction Agreement.
With Red Bull Racing having long been forced to deny speculation that it overspent en route to its maiden world championship last year, the matter has not been helped by unease about Mercedes GP's expansion plans that includes the recruitment of Aldo Costa and Geoff Willis.
Now, Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali hopes that F1 teams can get together in Korea this weekend to thrash out their concerns about the matter - amid increasing suggestions that the RRA could collapse if nothing is done.
Should that scenario happen then it would open the way for a spending war to erupt in F1 at a time when the world is facing a financial crisis.
When asked by AUTOSPORT about the growing concerns on the RRA, Domenicali said: "I think that it is a subject that is quite sensitive. It is a subject where we need to make a final clarification because, at the end of the day, the RRA was very important to keep the level of expenditure as low as possible.
"It should not become a performance differentiator so that you are able to do something that some others are not able to do. But, in that respect, I am not saying anything on top of what I said. We need to clarify this up until the end.
"This is a matter based on a lot of trust between teams and we need to get out from these doubts. We will have a meeting, I think, in Korea where we need to close this point because it is really a very crucial factor within all the teams that have to work together."
The Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) is expected to hold meetings in Korea this weekend to try and make progress on the RRA matter, at a time when Red Bull Racing's rivals are working hard on their plans to recover lost ground to the reigning champions.
Speaking about the impact of the Mercedes GP appointments at the weekend, Red Bull Racing technical chief Adrian Newey said: "I'm going to worry about what we do in Milton Keynes, not what's happening in Brackley, to be perfectly honest."
Sauber technical director James Key added: "It's always difficult to comment on what other teams are doing, because you never really know how they are structured and how they work. It's a pretty strong line-up of people, all with good experience.
"Personally, I've only really worked for relatively small teams and I guess the one thing I could say from a small team's perspective is that efficiency is certainly better when you're small and I guess with more people, particularly good experienced people, maybe that takes a bit more managing, to make sure it all fits in together - but it's not really for me to say."
Despite the mounting unease about the RRA, which was introduced for the start of 2009 and was revised after the famous Singapore Agreement last year, FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh remains upbeat that the matter can be dealt with to the satisfaction of all parties.
Speaking to reporters in Japan he said: "Fortunately the RRA doesn't limit the number of technical directors, so you can have 20 of them if you like.
"We are a competitive bunch of people and there will always be people who want to speculate on any issue, but overall we are working quite well together."
Credit: AUTOSPORT.COM (www.autosport.com)
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