Motorsport
Comprehensive agreement reached over future of Formula One
By DPA
May 14, 2006, 12:07 GMT

Barcelona, Spain - The divisions between most of the major Formula One teams and F1 supremo Bernie Ecclesone are definitively at an end after both sides reached an agreement on future cooperation until 2012 ahead of Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

Ecclestone reached the expected agreement with Renault, McLaren- Mercedes, BMW, Honda and Toyota, members of the Grand Prix Manufacturers Association (GPMA).

'We can build on this result and look to the future, making Formula One an even bigger sporting spectacle,' explained BMW head Burkhard Goetschel, chairman of the GMPA, ahead of the Spanish GP.

Goetschel described the agreement as 'a comprehensive solution for the future of the sport'.

Initially, the GPMA wanted to establish an alternative series to F1 once the current Concorde Agreement ran out in 2008 but the expected agreement was reached in Barcelona following years of conflict over the division of revenues and the decision-making process.

With the new paper for the future signed by the five teams all that remains is for a new Concorde Agreement to be hammered out in the coming months.

Ferrari was also originally among the dissenting teams within the GPMA but reached agreement with Ecclestone last year while recently Renault considered leaving the group and even thought of pulling out of the sport altogether.

But the French team was the first of the five GPMA members to sign the new F1 contract Sunday. Ferrari, Red Bull Racing, Williams, MF1 Racing, Super Aguri and Toro Rosso have already signed up with Ecclestone from 2008 to 2012.