FIA president Jean Todt has warned that not enough has been done to reduce costs in Formula 1 and that further action is required to protect the sport’s long-term future.

F1 budgets have been slashed in the past 12 months as a result of both the world recession and specific cost-cutting measures, and teams have signed a ‘resource restriction agreement’ committing them to reduce spending to early 1990s levels on an undisclosed timescale.

However, Todt believes F1 teams still tend to be short-sighted when it comes to recognising the dangers of spiralling costs, as demonstrated by the rash of manufacturer withdrawals in the past year.

While he said he did not favour a compulsory budget cap – which has always been resisted by some of the better-funded teams and nearly prompted a manufacturer-led breakaway from F1 when it was pushed by his predecessor Max Mosley last year – Todt made it clear that he expects the teams to make further economies.
“The F1 teams are sometimes blind and don’t realise what is happening in the world,” he said in an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro.

“But motor racing has been hit like never before by the [economic] crisis.

“F1 is too expensive.

“Max Mosley made strenuous efforts to get costs down – but it was not enough, not least because certain teams wrongly resisted him.

“I am sad that Honda, BMW and Toyota have left, but when you spend huge amounts of money and the results don’t come, it’s inevitable.

“On the other hand I think it’s great that some new teams are joining F1.

“But the cost-saving measures taken so far are not sufficient.
“I am against limiting budgets by regulation, but if we want to safeguard F1 for the long term, a real awareness and some fundamental decisions are required.”

Todt said F1 also needs to improve its environmental credentials, particularly since it has now abandoned Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems, and revealed that he has appointed former Ferrari engine chief Gilles Simon to investigate what more can be done in the field of alternative energy.

“I am convinced that we absolutely must take account of the environment, of new technologies, adapt ourselves to our times and fundamentally review motorsport, even create new disciplines,” said Todt.

“After the decision by the teams to abandon KERS, there will be nothing innovative in F1 next year. I think that’s a pity.
“I have therefore decided to create a working group, which will involve our environment and alternative energy commissions.
“Gilles Simon will join the FIA in this context.”

Regarding his green agenda, Todt added: “It’s a team effort, and I expect people to come forward with proposals in this area and on how to improve the show.

“If not then the FIA will act.”

The organisers of the Malaysian Grand Prix paid the highest fee going to hold an F1 race in 2009 - but they only got half a race for it.

The Sepang circuit’s race cost them $45.7m (£28.56m / €31.75m) to host this year. But the Grand Prix was abandoned after 31 of the scheduled 56 laps and half-points were awarded.

This was because the late start time imposed on the race organisers meant they were unable to complete the Grand Prix after it was interrupted by heavy rain.

The latest addition to the calendar - Abu Dhabi - was the next dearest, paying $45m for its Grand Prix. Singapore’s was the third most expensive, paying $44m.

At the other end of the scale Monaco paid nothing for its race and the Italian Grand Prix organisers paid $4.7m. The average fee for hosting a race was $28m.

The costs of the individual races are laid out in the latest edition of F1 business data analysis Formula Money. The report costs £175 and is available from formulamoney.com.

To put the figures into perspective, a two-day seat at Sepang for the Grand Prix weekend costs between 500 and 2,600 Ringgit ($145 - $758).

As Bernie Ecclestone typically increases his prices by 7-10% per year, and the Malaysian Grand Prix is contracted until at least 2015, FOA stand to earn a lot more money from the race over the next six seasons. Hopefully they’ll get a full race for their money in 2010.

Just weeks after the new points system was announced, another change may be on the cards. In 2010 drivers could be awarded points for pole position and the fastest lap, according to Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali.

The 2009 points system has already been tweaked ahead of next season, with the top ten finishers set to be rewarded as a result of the grid increasing to 26 cars.

However, it now appears that there could be further changes, with Domenicali revealing that a proposal has been made to the Sporting Working Group of the FIA to put more points on offer.

"Yes. The scoring is likely to be revised,"Domenicali told La Stampa.

"There is a proposal to reward the pole position and the fastest lap of the race," the Italian explained.

Jenson Button and Ross Brawn have had their achievements in winning the drivers’ and constructors’ world championships recognised in the Queen’s New Year honours list.

World champion Button receives an MBE following his maiden title triumph, while team boss Brawn is appointed an OBE after guiding his eponymous team to a world championship double months after saving it from closure.

Button joins his predecessor as world champion, and 2010 McLaren team-mate, Lewis Hamilton in becoming an MBE.

Brawn, who led a management buyout of the Brackley-based team after former Honda pulled out of Formula 1 last winter, receives his award on the back of a glittering career which had already seen him win multiple world titles at both Benetton and Ferrari.

Formula 1 bosses are to investigate ways of promoting the advance of environmentally friendly technology.

The idea is the brainchild of Jean Todt, who succeeded Max Mosley as president of motorsport's governing body the FIA in October.

Ex-Ferrari F1 engine boss Gilles Simon has joined the FIA to lead the project.

Todt, who revealed the plan in an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, added that more needed to be done to cut costs in F1.

Todt said he regretted the decision by F1 teams to abandon the Kers energy recovery and power boost systems that were used in 2009.

The teams dropped Kers - which was only used by McLaren, Ferrari, Renault and BMW Sauber - on cost-cutting grounds.

"I am convinced that we absolutely must reflect the environment with new technologies," Todt said.

"We must adapt to our time and review fundamentally motorsport - even create new disciplines.

"After giving up on Kers, we will accomplish nothing innovative next year. I'm sorry about that. I have therefore decided to create a working group... Gilles Simon, former boss at Ferrari engines, will join the FIA in this context."

Todt's views on cost-cutting mirror those of Mosley, who was forced out of the FIA presidency after a long and bitter political battle with the F1 teams through the summer.

Mosley had wanted to introduce a budget cap of £40m, but the teams rejected that idea and have instead made big cuts by limiting spending in certain areas of research.

The teams' umbrella body, the Formula 1 Teams' Association (Fota), has pledged to continue to find ways to cut costs.

Major car manufacturers BMW, Honda and Toyota have all quit the sport in the last year in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Four new teams are joining the F1 grid in 2010, having lodged entries before Mosley was forced to formally abandon the budget-cap plan.

Todt added: "The F1 teams are sometimes blind and do not realise what is happening in the world. But the racing has been struck as always by the [financial] crisis.

"F1 is too expensive, and my predecessor Max Mosley made great efforts to reduce costs, but it was not enough, especially as some teams were resistant.

"I am sad that Honda, BMW and Toyota are gone, but when you spend a lot and the results are not there, it's inevitable. On the other hand, it's great that new teams will be coming in.

"But the cost-saving measures already taken are not sufficient. I am against limiting regulatory budgets but if we want to perpetuate F1 it takes a real awareness and fundamental decisions."

Credit: BBC

Michael Schumacher is “convinced” he will challenge for the world title when he makes his Formula 1 comeback next season.

After weeks of mounting speculation, the sport’s most successful driver of all time confirmed on Wednesday that he will return to the cockpit with reigning champion team Mercedes GP in 2010.

And despite having been on the sidelines for three years following his retirement in 2006, Schumacher has already set his sights on an eighth title.

“Mercedes GP represents a new challenge for me both in a sporting and a personal context,” he said.

“I am convinced that together we will be involved in the fight for the Formula 1 world championship next year and I am already looking forward to getting back onto the race track.”

Schumacher added that he was delighted to be renewing his association both with Ross Brawn – who guided him to all seven of his titles at Benetton and Ferrari – and with Mercedes, with which he raced in sports cars and DTM before graduating to F1 in 1991.

“It is a new chapter in my racing career and I am really looking forward to working with my old friend Ross Brawn and my companions from my days with the Mercedes Junior Programme,” he said.

“For me, this partnership closes the circle."

“Mercedes supported me for so many years when I began my Formula 1 career and now I can hopefully give something back to the brand with the star.”

Schumacher will be aiming to emulate the likes of Niki Lauda and Alain Prost, who both retired from F1 only to return and win a further title apiece (in 1984 and 1993 respectively).

Seven-times Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher will come out of retirement to race for Mercedes next year, BBC Sport understands.

The German, who will be 41 on 3 January, has signed a contract and the deal will be announced imminently.

Schumacher will partner compatriot Nico Rosberg in the team that won the drivers' and constructors' titles in 2009 in its former guise as Brawn.

His spokeswoman Sabine Kehm said she could not make any comment.

The German newspaper Bild is reporting that Schumacher signed a one-year deal and it is likely he will have the option to continue beyond 2010 if his returns goes well.

Schumacher will reportedly earn £6.2m after signing up to reunite with Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn, who masterminded all seven of his titles, the first two with Benetton in 1994-5 and the subsequent five with Ferrari from 2000-4.

Irvine said he thought Schumacher would be at a disadvantage in wheel-to-wheel racing compared to the younger generation of drivers such as 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton.
"Lewis isn't going to back off, but Michael will have to because he'll be 41," Irvine said.

Luca di Montezemolo says Ferrari hired Fernando Alonso to replace Kimi Raikkonen as it realised it needed a driver who was capable of working more closely with its engineers to help the team improve.

Two-time world champion Alonso was long thought to have agreed a move to the Scuderia from 2011, but his arrival was brought forward by one year after Ferrari managed to agree with a pay-off with Raikkonen to terminate his agreement with the team a season ahead of schedule.

Ferrari president di Montezemolo says the team had been keeping tabs on Alonso over the last two years and believes the 28-year-old Spaniard is arriving at Maranello at the right stage in his career.

And while praising Raikkonen’s racing abilities, the Italian reckons Alonso represents a more complete package.

“We have been watching him [Alonso] since 2007 and [team principal, Stefano] Domenicali discussed it with me this summer,”

Montezemolo said during a pre-Christmas lunch with journalists last week.

However, di Montezemolo made it clear that Ferrari had been happy with Raikkonen’s contribution to its successes in his time at the team - while also dismissing speculation that the arrival of Spanish bank Santander as a major sponsor at the squad from 2010 was the reason for the early arrival of Alonso.

Great news for Italian fans as F1 boss as Bernie announces The Italian capital Rome is set to stage a Formula 1 race from 2012, after the historic city signed a seven-year deal to become the country’s second venue on the calendar.

The possibility of staging grand prix in Rome was first floated by former Formula 2 driver and world superbike promoter Maurizio Flammini in January, with any event to be run on streets around the outskirts of the city.

Following reports over the weekend that officials organising the event had been given the green light by Ecclestone, F1’s commercial impresario has now confirmed an agreement has indeed been reached.

The 79-year-old told The Times that he had negotiated an initial seven-year deal for a street race in Rome, with the contract including a further five-year option, and that he expects its first race to take place in 2012.

And, hinting the track layout will run close to the Vatican, Ecclestone quipped: “Every time there is an overtaking manoeuvre, we’re going to put the black smoke up.”

Flammini also confirmed to Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper that he had agreed on a deal with Ecclestone, but said that full details of the contract couldn't yet be revealed.

Rome’s mayor Gianni Alemanno, meanwhile, stressed that a grand prix in the city would not replace Italy’s legendary Monza event on the calendar, but complement it, while bringing crucial new revenue streams into the city.

“This would not be an alternative to the grand prix in Monza, but alongside it,” Alemanno said.

“We have calculated that there would be spin off benefits of €1 billion a year from this event and Rome needs to renew its tourist attraction with something aimed at families and young people.”
Italy had traditionally staged two grands prix on the calendar, at Monza and at Imola in San Marino, before the Imola event was dropped in 2007.

Spain, with races at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona and the new Valencia street circuit, is the only country currently with the honour of having two races on the calendar.

Michael Schumacher has told Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo he is planning a comeback with Mercedes.

It is the first time anyone close to the German legend has confirmed he is actively pursuing a return, which has been rumoured for weeks.

"I spoke to him [on Wednesday] and he told me there is a very strong possibility but that it's not 100% decided," Di Montezemolo said.

He said a return by Schumacher, 41 in January, would be "good for F1".

Schumacher retired at the end of 2006 after winning five world titles with Ferrari in consecutive years from 2000-4, to add to the two he won with Benetton in 1994-5.

BBC Sport pundit Eddie Jordan revealed last month that Schumacher had had talks about a comeback with Mercedes and that it would probably happen - and now Di Montezemolo has confirmed it.

A lot of fans will think Michael is a traitor but I will explain to them it is not Michael but another one Luca di Montezemolo Ferrari president

"A guy called Michael Schumacher told us at Monza (in September) he would renew his (Ferrari consultancy) contract," Di Montezemolo said. "And it looked like his career would finish with Ferrari.

"But then there's another one who looks like him, 40, 41 yrs old, German, same name and decided to do a new career.

"Everybody in life can do what they prefer, and I understand that there is somebody at 41 years who wants to try again.

"So I think it's possible this twin, another Michael Schumacher, same age, same capability, some determination and spirit, will drive for Mercedes next year."

Di Montezemolo said Schumacher had been "destroyed" when it emerged he would not be able to make a temporary return to F1 with Ferrari last summer as a stand-in for the injured Felipe Massa because of a neck injury sustained in a motorcycle accident last winter.

Ferrari believe they can handle Massa and Alonso as team-mates

"He phoned me, and he was so sad. He said: 'Listen, the doctor says I cannot do anything because I still have a problem with the neck.

"That day, Michael was not sad, (he was) more than sad. He was destroyed.

"Of course, I will have a lot of fans on our website very upset. They think Michael is a traitor. But I will explain to them it is not Michael but another one.

"As a friend, it is difficult for me, but I'm happy to see somebody so fit and with such big determination.

"As chairman of Ferrari, I'm so sad. He received a lot from Ferrari, and he has given a lot to Ferrari. I think the combination in the good and the bad moments was very, very good.

"This is the reason why I think we have to accept there is another Michael who is wanting to race. The real Michael is still with Ferrari."

Schumacher still has to have medical tests on his neck injury before he can confirm a return, and Di Montezemolo said he expected a decision to be made public "at the end of December or the beginning of January".

Massa has recovered from the fractured skull he suffered at the Hungarian Grand Prix and will be driving for Ferrari again in 2010 alongside their new signing, double world champion Fernando Alonso.

Di Montezemolo admitted that Ferrari had been "affected psychologically" by Massa's crash, adding: "For many days, we were very worried for the possible recovery of the man and then the driver."

Massa has completed a test in a 2007 Ferrari this week, and Di Montezemolo said the team "strongly believe he'll again be very, very quick".

Alonso will arrive at Ferrari with a reputation for being difficult to manage if the team does not focus on him - a legacy of his tumultuous season as Lewis Hamilton's team-mate at McLaren in 2007.

But asked if Ferrari could handle such a dominant personality, Di Montezemolo said: "Yes we can manage him, for three reasons.

"First, I spoke about these elements with (team principal Stefano) Domenicali 1000 times, not 100, and I spoke with Alonso.

"I told him: 'If you come to drive for us, because we want you, you drive for a team, you drive for a group, you don't drive for yourself.

"If you want a team, then you do your own team, fantastic, like John Surtees. In Ferrari we want to put you in the best condition to win. If not, we will never hire you.

"We know that you can win the championship. We will do our best but you are part of it. I spoke with him and he knows how to handle it.

"Second - and I'm proud for this - for many years, you have not seen any more polemics inside Ferrari.

Alonso is a very intelligent guy, very focused, and he understands that even during the past, he made some mistakes Luca di Montezemolo

"The only time was once with (Rubens) Barrichello when we asked him to (play second fiddle to Schumacher) but this was because Michael was in condition to win the championship and sometimes this is important.

"But I am for team spirit, like in soccer, like in cycling. This is sport.

"The third reason is he's a very intelligent guy, very focused and he understands that even during the past, he made some mistakes, just as both Michael and I have done in our lives."

In a wide-ranging interview with a selection of British, Italian, Spanish and German journalists, Di Montezemolo addressed a number of other topics.

He backed world champion Jenson Button's decision to join McLaren as Hamilton's team-mate, saying: "Hamilton in McLaren is good motivation for him".

He said he backed the current drive to cut costs in F1 - but that it should never become a championship where all the cars were close to identical, adding that Ferrari would stay in the sport "until Formula 1 isn't Formula 1".

He questioned some of the current organisation of F1, saying the sport's stakeholders needed to look into issues such as whether the races were too long, ticket prices were too high, and its lack of engagement with the internet.

And he set out a vision for F1, which he believed "can play an important role for technology, ecology, environment, fuel consumption".