McLaren Receives another Blow from FIA

After the last weekend, when Formula One has offered the sports newspapers a lot to write about, the "Great Circle" continues to stun everybody. Since the International Automobilist Federation (FIA) has been taken some really weird decisions lately, here's another one…


The FIA officials have all agreed that, starting 2008, only 6 teams are allowed to send representatives to the new voting commission - that will be formed by the end of 2007. The 13 future members of the commission will have a saying - decide, judge or rule - in any aspect of the F1 competition. But there's nothing wrong with that so far. The strong reaction - from one of the teams - came when they found out that they're not to send any representative to the commission.

And let's talk names now. We're talking about McLaren. So, as you can say, it's not just any team, but one of the Formula 1 classics. The British officials have quickly responded to this "act of offence" from FIA: "Team McLaren Mercedes note the decision of the FIA to exclude the team from the 2008 Formula One commission. It seems surprising that the second oldest and most successful Formula One team for the past 40 years, with 148 grand prix victories, has not been included as a team representative."

For the time being, the commission gives the right to vote to any team in F1, along with representatives of engine and tire suppliers. Starting 2008 though, the only teams allowed to vote will be: Red Bull (Austria), Renault (France), BMW (Germany), Ferrari (Italy), Honda (Japan) and Williams (Britain).

Still, the FIA decision might have a lot to do with McLaren and Toyota's critics, as the future policy of the F1 is concerned. Both teams did not agree with the freezing of engine developments that FIA wants to implement starting 2008.