Former FIA President Max Mosley warned that European Union investigators could "rip up" £560M ($878M) worth of financial contracts as F1’s "internal crisis deepens," according to Kevin Eason of the LONDON TIMES.
Four aggrieved teams -- Force India, Lotus, Sauber and Marussia -- "have been asked to make legal submissions to the EU competition commission in what could prove to be the biggest threat to F1 finances in the history of the sport."
Their evidence "could also deeply wound the FIA, the governing body, which may be accused of compromising its regulatory powers" in return for an estimated £44M ($69M) shareholding in the F1 business.
There is a move among some insiders to bring in Mosley "as an arbitrator to head off the EU before it intervenes and puts the sport’s finances into suspended animation."
That seems unlikely, but F1 "needs a white knight to ride over the hill to the rescue of a sport that appears determined to drive over the precipice at breakneck speed." Last weekend F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone "met representatives of the four teams, who warned that they will co-operate fully with any inquiry" (LONDON TIMES, 12/3)
