Newsgroup: it.sport.formula1.moderato
Titolo: [ENG] BMW and Honda capitulate over engines

Source: 
grandprix.com
http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns14009.html
BMW and Honda have dropped their opposition to the FIA's 2006 engine
regulations after a secret meeting with FIA President Max Mosley last
week in Monaco. It is not clear what was said at the meeting but Mosley
somehow managed to convince the two automobile companies that it was not
in their best interest to continue to fight the FIA plan. This means that
only Mercedes-Benz is now against the idea (at least officially) and
there is therefore little chance that the arbitration case will go ahead
despite the fact that the FIA had made commitments to retain V10 engines
until the end of the Concorde Agreement in 2007.
Mosley has been very combative on this subject - in September he
dismissed the arbitration case as "footling" - and so one must assume
that he did not make any concessions to the two car manufacturers and
thus one must ask how he managed to convince them to publicly back down.
Big automobile companies do not generally like to change their opinions
in public unless they have been forced to do so. No-one wants to talk
about what happened in the meeting in Monaco and it is fair to speculate
that if it all been polite conversation there would be no need for any
secrecy.
BMW says that the decision was taken because a legal challenge to the
modified regulations would "take up too much time - time in which all
manufacturers would be forced to undertake costly parallel developments".
Both companies have been working on V10 and V8 development in recent
months. BMW added that arbitration would not be "in the interests of the
sport, whose future we aim to strengthen". The Munich did however point
out that part of the reason for making the decision was "to contribute to
a united position of the engine manufacturers in F1."
Uniting the engine manufacturers is not necessarily something that F1
commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone would want to see. Ecclestone is
fighting with three investment banks to keep control of the Formula One
group and, at the same time, trying to convince the F1 teams (most of
which now have strong manufacturer connections) that they do not want to
sign up with the rival GPWC, which is an organization run by BMW,
Ferrari, Renault and Mercedes-Benz. Honda and Toyota have been politely
sitting on the fence up to now but if they sniff an advantage for one
side or the other, it is expected that they will jump into the dominant
camp. The disputes over the engine regulations had threatened to divide
the GPWC members but they now seem to be united on the matter, even if
Mercedes-Benz has yet to officially accept defeat.
It is worth noting that while all these machinations are going on no-one
seems to be at all interested in the fact that F1's TV viewing figures
dropped significantly in 2004.
Copyright 1988-2004, Inside F1, Inc.
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 Mercedes-Benz has yet to officially accept defeat.
lo ha già fatto.
 
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 si fa sempre quello che si vuole/decide a Maranello.
Sě, ma in questi casi pur facendomi schifo la figura del
ricattatore, va riconosciuta una GRAVISSIMA dose di colpa
ai ricattati, che non smettono di mettersi "a novanta"...
Ciao.
Mauro

 ai ricattati, che non smettono di mettersi "a novanta"...
evidentemente Mosley gli avrà fatto capire che era inutile insistere con
l'arbitrato perchè sarebbe solo stato tempo e denaro perduto.
La decisione irrevocabile di passare al V8 era già stata presa...
