Trulli says Formula One could split in two

Formula One could split in two if a stand-off between the governing FIA and the teams is not resolved by Friday, Toyota driver Jarno Trulli said after meeting team heads yesterday.

The 16 race drivers under contract to the eight-member Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) sat down with the bosses in the Toyota motorhome at the Turkish Grand Prix for a 25-minute briefing.

Representatives of Williams and Force India, who have both been suspended from FOTA, did not attend.

Trulli said the drivers shared the same stance as their teams and expressed concern that time was running out with the International Automobile Federation due to publish the 2010 entry list on Friday.

"As far as the political part is concerned, I don't know much. I know that in the next week something should move, must move. Otherwise there will inevitably be a split," he told reporters.

The eight FOTA teams have submitted entries conditional on the 2010 rules being rewritten and a new commercial Concorde Agreement being signed by June 12.

Champions Ferrari, along with Renault, Toyota and the two Red Bull teams, have threatened to walk away otherwise.

The FIA, which wants an optional £40 million budget cap, has meanwhile encouraged would-be new teams to submit entries with more than 10 so far confirming that they have done so.

Toyota motorsport president John Howett, who is also the FOTA vice-chairman, said last week that setting up a rival series would be considered only as a last resort.

FOTA backing

Trulli said all the drivers "have the same feeling, to follow FOTA and respect above all the work they are doing on the coming rules and the running of Formula One in a serious way for the future".

"At the moment we have to wait and see, because FOTA want to reach a solution together with the federation," he added when asked about a "parallel series".

"However all of us drivers I think understand very well which is the right side to be on.

"(FIA president Max) Mosley must understand that there are some things that cannot happen," he added.

"The rules for 2010 are absolutely not good because Formula One must remain the number one sport in the world, with great technology and with the manufacturers.

"You can't try and bring in other teams that maybe have never had any idea about what it takes to compete with the cars and in a championship of such a high level. Above all, with (these 2010) rules we are completely out."

Renault's double world champion Fernando Alonso told reporters before the meeting that he would not stay in the FIA-run series if there was a breakaway.

"I prefer to race in any other category before in the new F1," he told Spanish media. "A model similar to (the) GP2 (support series) or F3 is not interesting for any driver, for any sponsor or for any circuit or television network.

"In that case it would be a category without any sense.

"You cannot suddenly move from a budget of €500 million to one of 45 million a year.

"It's possible in three years, which is what the teams are proposing.

"It's impossible for them to do more. Now the ball is in the FIA's court."