New teams could still enter F1, says Fry

Bologna, June 25: The make-up of the Formula One grid could still change next season after the teams won their battle against a budget cap, Brawn GP chief executive Nick Fry said on Thursday.The Formula One Teams` Association (FOTA) had threatened a breakaway series in a long-running row with International Automobile Federation (FIA) president Max Mosley over the cap, but an agreement on Wednesday ended the crisis.

The FIA has reiterated that the 10 current teams plus Manor, U.S. F1 and Campos had been accepted for next year. However, the three new teams had agreed to join when a budget cap was still planned and the future is now uncertain. "If one of those three weren`t able to get the funding to enter, there a possibility that others might be invited in," Fry told Reuters after a FOTA meeting. "Obviously, we want more teams involved in Formula One." FOTA would be happy for the new teams to join the fledgling group, which showed its combined power by largely securing all its demands at FIA`s World Motor Sport council meeting in Paris on Wednesday. The 2009 rules will stay for next season while Mosley will step down in October. Rejoin Group Existing teams Williams and Force India are expected to rejoin the group, after they were suspended for agreeing to unconditionally sign up to the 2010 championship this month despite the wrangling. "Obviously we would expect them to ask to come back in... which they haven`t done so far," Fry said, aware that Williams have said they hope to rejoin. Asked if there was any framework for teams to stay permanently outside of FOTA, the CEO of the championship leaders added: "That`s a discussion that`s yet to be had." While an agreement on the rules was reached on Wednesday, a new commercial deal with rights holder CVC -- represented by Bernie Ecclestone -- is due to be signed shortly. "I don`t think there is any issue on the financial front at all. The financial agreements have been in place for some months," Fry said. "The work that needs to be done over the next, literally few days, is legal detailing. The fundamental agreements are in place." Bureau Report