Cost-cutting measures are in pipeline

LONDON // Formula One's governing body have proposed radical cost-cutting measures, including the possible use of standard engines from 2010, to help teams survive the global financial storm. In a letter to the 10 teams ahead of a meeting with the International Automobile Federation (FIA) president Max Mosley in Geneva next week, the governing body put forward a five-year plan of action.

"The FIA believe that Formula One costs are unsustainable," it said. "Even before current global financial problems, teams were spending far more than their incomes." The Paris-based body said the sport could only be healthy if a team could race competitively with a budget close to the revenues received from the commercial rights holder. The future of some manufacturer teams has begun to look uncertain against a backdrop of factory lay-offs, falling share prices and dwindling sales.

The FIA, due to meet the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) after Sunday's Chinese GP, put forward three proposals for the period 2010 to 2012. The first was for an homologated engine produced by a single supplier - after a tender - with the current engine makers free to build their own to the same design. Another option would be for a consortium of teams to obtain a low cost engine from a single supplier, while a third alternative, proposed by FOTA, would see independent teams receive a complete powertrain (engine and gearbox) .

The latter arrangement would also include 30,000km of testing and on-track assistance. The FIA said they also envisaged common chassis parts, including standard suspension and wheels and other expensive parts. * Reuters