MAY 30, 2002

The manufacturers meet again

THE automobile manufacturers involved in Formula 1 met again at Monaco on Saturday to keep in touch with the latest developments with regard to the Kirch situation. The meeting marked the first one at which representatives of Toyota and Honda were present in addition to the European automobile manufacturers. Neither Japanese has yet agreed to join the GPWC but they are expected to make a decision shortly.

Those present were, as usual, very discreet about what had occurred in the meeting but it has emerged that they feel that the longer the delays are in solving the Kirch problems, the more likely they are to go ahead with their own championship.

"This business cannot drag on too much," Renault Sport boss Patrick Faure told Autohebdo magazine in France. "The more time that passes, the more our move towards a completely new championship becomes irreversible. We are going to start to spend a lot of money on that."

Formula 1 bosses currently do not believe that the manufacturers will go through with their threat to start a new championship and are directing their effort to creating a situation in which everyone can work together to establish a revised structure the commercial side of the sport.

The big question is whether the manufacturers believe in their plans or whether they are just a negotiating position.