The Formula One Teams’ Association, established six years ago to try and represent the interests of all the teams, "officially closed on Friday, after it faced unpaid subscription fees, deadlock among the 11 teams about its purpose, and the loss of its chairman and principal cheerleader," according to Daniel Johnson of the London TELEGRAPH.
Financial issues and "a lack of agreement with the teams currently outside FOTA" -- Red Bull, Ferrari, Toro Rosso and Sauber -- "sealed the association’s widely predicted demise."
FOTA Secretary General Oliver Weingarten "confirmed what had been expected in the paddock on Twitter." He said, "I can confirm that FOTA has today been disbanded as a result of its members having re-evaluated their requirements in the face of a changing political and commercial landscape in Formula One" (TELEGRAPH, 2/28). The AP reported Weingarten said the "changing political and commercial landscape" led to the teams "deciding they no longer required an umbrella organization to negotiate on their behalf." F1 CEO Bernie
Ecclestone, who is facing trial in Germany in April over an alleged bribe, "stands to benefit most from FOTA dissolving despite his own power being diluted slightly over his legal problems." Weingarten:
"There is now no official forum in which teams can come together and coalesce without commercial rights holders being present. The teams will probably think they can exist and fight their own corner but there will be something when they will realize they will be stronger in numbers" (AP, 2/28).
SHORT HISTORY: The BBC's Andrew Benson reported FOTA "was set up in 2008 to provide a single voice for the teams" in dealings with Ecclestone and governing body FIA. But "its power was eroded when the influential Red Bull and Ferrari teams quit the organisation" in '11. The organization "was instrumental in preventing the introduction of a budget cap and in the creation of the resource-restriction agreement (RRA) to control costs" in '09.
However, a dispute over the RRA -- specifically involving accusations that Red Bull was breaking it, which the team denied -- led to Red Bull and Ferrari "quitting FOTA."
Red Bull's junior team, Toro Rosso, and Sauber, a Ferrari customer, "joined them, although the Swiss team has been a de facto FOTA member for the last few months."
The organization "pressed on" under the chairmanship of former McLaren Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh. But its relevance "has been increasingly questioned in recent months, especially since Whitmarsh was ousted from his role at McLaren" (BBC, 2/28).
