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TRUNG LATIEULE
The Associated Press
Wednesday, Jun. 25, 2008
PARIS - Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone downplayed on Wednesday the possibility that Formula One could break away from the series' governing body.
"I don't know anything about a breakaway championship to be honest with you, nobody's ever talked about one," Ecclestone told The Associated Press after what he said was a "good" meeting of the World Motor Sport Council.
His comments appeared to contradict earlier remarks he made. Ecclestone, president and chief executive of Formula One Management, had told The Times of London this month that Formula One might split from governing body FIA and set up a breakaway championship. "At the moment what we are trying to do, to keep the sponsors happy, is say we can't break away, but it could well be that that will happen," he was quoted as saying.
Ecclestone has been frustrated by embattled FIA president Max Mosley's attempts to increase the FIA's influence and his determination to remain in office in the wake of a sex scandal. Ecclestone has been in talks to renegotiate the Concorde Agreement between the teams, his Formula One Management company and the FIA, which has governed the sport during its 58-year history.
On Wednesday, Ecclestone insisted that his relations with Mosley were fine.
"Nothing has ever changed between Max and I. We've been friends for 40 years. You don't lose friendship like that," Ecclestone told The AP.
Mosley survived a vote of confidence at a meeting of FIA members in Paris earlier this month.
The meeting was called in response to a British tabloid exposing that he took part in sex acts with prostitutes, allegedly involving Nazi role-playing. Mosley, who is suing The News of the World newspaper in British and French courts, has acknowledged hiring the prostitutes but denied the Nazi aspect. He is the son of former British fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley.
Wednesday's World Council meeting agreed on a provisional calendar of F1 races for the 2009 season. The U.S. Grand Prix was again left off, but the French Grand Prix was kept on the calendar. The season will start March 29 in Australia and end Nov. 15 in Abu Dhabi.
In a statement, the FIA also said it will invite tenders for a new feeder series for F1. The championship, called Formula Two, would be launched in 2009 and "used as an inexpensive platform to develop emerging driver talent for Formula One."