Ferrari pushing to stay under own terms

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has said his team will do all it can to remain in Formula 1 under its own terms - after lodging legal action against the FIA on Friday.

Following the failure of teams to reach agreement with the FIA during crisis talks at a Heathrow airport hotel to discuss fears about a two-tier F1, Ferrari lodged an injunction against the sport's governing body's plans for 2010.

Ferrari believes that the FIA has breached a technical veto it has on future technical regulation changes by pushing through a voluntary £40 million budget cap - and has taken its complaint to the French courts.

Speaking after a number of meetings on Friday, Domenicali made it clear that the Maranello outfit was pushing hard to ensure that it could remain in an F1 it was happy to race in.

"For us it's very important, it's our life," said Domenicali. "We want to fight in order to make sure that we will be in the championship in the right way."

The legal action in France was taken after Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo was given the authority by his company's board earlier this week to do all he could to protect Ferrari's interests.

Speaking about the action, Domenicali said: "What I can say is that there is nothing new in that. If you look at what was the outcome of our board, the Ferrari board, it was clearly indicated that the president has the mandate from the board to protect the rights of Ferrari."

Domenicali refused to confirm the specific existence of the technical veto - which was granted to the team back in 1998.

"I think I cannot go into these details. There are certain things that are in these rights and no more than that."

FIA president Max Mosley said he did not believe Ferrari's action, which is set to be heard next Tuesday, was valid because the team's veto was no longer in place.

"We will say first of all it is no longer in place and if they wanted to do a veto - they were in the [FIA] meeting on March 17 and they should have done it there if they didn't agree. Instead, they just sat there," said Mosley.

"Anyway, it will be our contention that they walked away from that agreement some time ago."

However, other teams said they were supportive of Ferrari's actions.

Toyota team principal John Howett said: "I understand Ferrari has taken some sort of action, and from Toyota's perspective we understand their position and we support them."

No agreement between teams and FIA

The FIA's crunch meeting with teams ended without agreement on Friday as the governing body refused to compromise over plans for a two-tier category.

Max Mosley said there had been 'friendly' discussions with teams but that the FIA was not willing to back down over its plans for a £40 million cap, or the 29 May deadline for entries to the 2010 world championship.

The teams have now gone into another meeting to discuss their response to the FIA's stance.

"It was quite a friendly meeting, but in the end all that happened was that the teams have gone off to see if they can come up with something better than the cost cap," Mosley told reporters after the Heathrow meeting.

"We explained we cannot put back the entry date, as this has all been published, and we cannot disadvantage the potential new teams who will come in. But we are prepared to listen to whatever they have to say.

"In the meantime, the regulations are as published. We have explained that we want everyone to race under the same regulations. We have explained that we would like all of the teams to come in under the cost cap and that is what they have gone off to consider.

"We have said that we cannot see why anyone wouldn't want to operate under the cost cap, and it would mean a gradual relaxation of the technical regulations - which all the engineers would want. We said in the end the choice was between intellectual freedom and financial constraint, or intellectual constraint and financial freedom - which is what they have had up until now.

"We have pointed out, and it is something the engineers have said, that current F1 consists of endless refinement at enormous expense and we want to move away from that and have invention and creativity, but we can only do that if we restrict the cost - because if we have unrestricted cost nobody would be able to afford it.

"I think some of the teams agree with that idea, and some don't, and they have gone away to discuss it."

Ferrari, Renault, Toyota and the Red Bull teams have already declared that they will not enter the 2010 season under the rules as presently proposed by the FIA, and when asked if that remained the case, Mosley replied: "Well, as things stand, yes that is the situation."

It also emerged today that Ferrari has lodged legal action in the French courts to block the 2010 rules - claiming their introduction was a breach of a technical veto the Italian team has.

"During the meeting it became apparent that Ferrari has made an application to the French courts, and I don't know the details, but it is to apply for an injunction to stop us doing what we want to do," Mosley explained. "So that is where the situation rests as far as Ferrari is concerned."

The FIA president added that the discussions had extended to talks on a new Concorde Agreement, but that this issue also remained unresolved.

"Then they asked about the Concorde Agreement, and we said that we would be prepared if there was agreement on all of the other issues to resign the 1998 Concorde Agreement, and extend it for another five years," said Mosley.

"But there was not agreement between them and Bernie [Ecclestone] on the commercial side, which is unsurprising because they have been talking about it for two and a half years and still not reached agreement."

Rosberg says his future remains open

Nico Rosberg says he remains open about his Formula 1 future, the German admitting he is already considering his options for 2010.

The Williams driver had said earlier this year that the form of his team during 2009 would be crucial in his decision on whether to continue at the British squad or move somewhere else.

Rosberg said in February that he wanted to be in a race-winning car by 2010 "at the latest."

Although Williams has enjoyed a promising start to the season, the German driver has scored just 4.5 points in the first five races.

Rosberg admits he feels at home at Williams, but he insisted he wants to be in car that can win races.

"I'm looking at it now. I'm trying to build an image in my head about what possibilities are for next year," said Rosberg when asked by AUTOSPORT about his future.

"That fact is I feel really good in this team. They support me, and we've grown together, so it's a nice feeling here. So it would be nice if I could stay, to develop the car together that would be great."

He added: "It would be great to have one (race-winning car) now, but in F1 there's only two teams that have race-winning machines if anything.

"So you just need to be patient. If you deserve it sooner or later it will come and next year is going to be an important stop for my career.

"I would like to find something which is a good, long-term solution. It's important to get it right.

The 23-year-old said he had been encouraged by the progress made by Williams this year, and he reckons his speed at the Spanish Grand Prix, the first race in Europe, is a good omen for the rest of the season.

"It's very encouraging that we are in this position at this track, because it means that we can definitely compete in terms of development with the other teams and we have a chance to stay where we are or maybe a little bit better for once. So it's okay," he added.

"It's a good platform. They have done a good job with the development to put us in this position again, so it's okay.

"Over the winter they have shown they can build a good car. They've developed well through the first few races. So we'll see."

AUTOSPORT understands Rosberg has already begun talking to other teams to find out what options there are for next year.

Brawn: Button can be a regular winner

Jenson Button's impressive start to the season has given the 29-year-old the self-belief to be a regular race winner in Formula 1, according to team boss Ross Brawn.

Button has won three of the four races in 2009 after two difficult seasons with Honda during which he scored only nine points.

Brawn says that although all the elements needed to be a consistent winner existed in Button before, his growing confidence has been crucial in his emerging as a championship contender.

"Jenson is driving so well this year," said Brawn. "He's had the ingredients and the skills that you need and now he is getting the confidence.

"He's realising that winning a race is something that he can do. It's not so easy that you could ever say that winning comes naturally, but he knows he can do it when the environment is right.

"Jenson is exceptional. Even last year with the car we had there were races when I saw flashes of things that were special, but it's about putting it together on a consistent basis.

"All the guys in the team told me he was pretty special, but I wasn't lucky enough to see much of it. Now I am. He's such a smooth driver. You watch him in the car and nothing's happening because everything is under control. He's not exciting in the car because everything is working well."

Brawn added that seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher had always rated Button highly.

"I've spoken to Michael," said Brawn. "He always had lots of respect for Jenson when we were at Ferrari. He has the highest respect for him."

Brawn is cautious about his team's championship chances, despite Button having a 12-point lead over team-mate Rubens Barrichello with Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel a further point adrift.

The team will introduce its first major set of updates at next week's Spanish Grand Prix, which Brawn hopes will ensure it is not overtaken by its rivals.

"We have got a long way to go in the championship - 13 more races," said Brawn. "This is a great start, but all we can do is push very hard for upgrades and improvements.

"You've seen the progress of some of the other teams, so we have to starting hitting our slopes of progress again."

Mallya cautious on FIA's new rules

Force India boss Vijay Mallya says he is cautious about the FIA's introduction of a budget cap for the 2010 season.

The governing body confirmed on Thursday that Formula 1 teams will be able to adhere to an optional £40 million budget cap from next year, with more technical freedom allowed for them.

McLaren and Williams have already reacted to the plan with scepticism, saying they are against a championship with two sets of rules.

Mallya said he was in favour of moves to reduce costs, but admitted the proposals have to be fully analysed.

"In principle Force India welcomes all cost cutting initiatives and budget caps, but we must fully investigate and understand the implications of the current measures proposed by both the FIA and FOTA," said Mallya.

"We will review the proposal internally and within the next FOTA meeting scheduled for Wednesday 6 May and until this point it would be inappropriate to comment further."

World champions Ferrari, meanwhile, refused to make any comments about the new rules.

"With regards to the press release put out by the FIA on the day after the WMSC meeting, at the moment, Ferrari does not intend to make any comment on the matter," a statement from Ferrari said.

Mosley hints at increased budget cap

FIA president Max Mosley has hinted that the World Motor Sport council has approved an increased budget cap figure in its meeting today.

Although the World Motorsport Council's decisions have yet to be published, Mosley told reporters after the meeting that the original £30 million budget cap figure has been increased following consultation with F1 teams.

"Everything is going ahead as planned," he said. "It's a little bit more than 30 million but we have been successful."

He added that the budget cap is crucial to maintaining competitor numbers in F1 at a healthy level. As well as safeguarding the future of the existing teams, a number of new outfits are looking at coming into F1

"People cannot in the current economic conditions get enough money to survive without it," he said.

A number of teams have expressed an interest in joining F1 next year should the budget cap go ahead, including USF1, Prodrive, Lola and iSport.

Rivals say no doubt diffusers illegal

Rivals of the Williams, Toyota and Brawn GP teams told the FIA's International Court of Appeal on Tuesday that there was no doubt the rear diffusers used by trio were illegal.

Ferrari, Renault, BMW Sauber and Red Bull have all appealed against the decision by the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix stewards to deem the 'diffuser gang's' cars within the scope of the 2009 technical regulations.

With the teams now having left for China, a final decision on the case will be announced on Wednesday afternoon. The full findings however, are not expected to be released until later in the week at the earliest.

While the 'diffuser gang' remained resolute in their defence that their designs conformed to the letter of the technical regulations, Ferrari's legal representative Nigel Tozzi told the court in Paris there was no doubt they have exploited a loophole in the regulations to use an illegal device.

"Anyone with a command of English will tell you it is a hole, so do not let someone attempting to be clever with words defeat the express purpose of the rules," Tozzi was quoted as saying by the Press Association.

"The appeal is not because we have not made the most of an opportunity, but because Brawn, Toyota and Williams have not acted within the regulations."

Renault's representative Andrew Ford said the sport's governing body had already concluded the design was illegal, and that was the reason why the French team decided not to use it.

"It is not that Renault missed the boat, as Brawn have pointed out, it is because the FIA said it was illegal. It was at that point the diffuser was abandoned," said Ford.

Ford confirmed that the team has its own prototype version, which could be ready to run as soon as China should the case be called in favour of the 'diffuser gang'.

Brawn GP has won the first two races of the season and the result of today's hearing could completely change the championship situation.

If the ICA decides the diffuser is legal, the British team looks certain to continue at the front until rivals copy the design and catch up.

If it's decided that the 'double-diffusers' contravene the rules, Jenson Button could face the prospect of losing his two victories.

Team boss Ross Brawn said he was optimistic the decision would favour his team.

"You can't be 100 percent confident," Brawn told the BBC. "But I hope that common sense prevails on our side and the appeal court judges that there is a mechanism, a procedure, a policy and that it was followed properly and we should be left to get on with it."