Manufacturers' return Michael Schumacher won five consecutive titles with Ferrari

Michael Schumacher and Ferrari won an unprecedented five consecutive drivers’ championships and six consecutive constructors’ championships between 1999 and 2004. Schumacher set many new records, including those for Grand Prix wins (91), wins in a season (13 of 18), and most drivers' championships (7).[28] Schumacher's championship streak ended on September 25, 2005 when Renault driver Fernando Alonso became Formula One’s youngest champion at that time. In 2006, Renault and Alonso won both titles again. Schumacher retired at the end of 2006 after sixteen years in Formula One.

During this period the championship rules were frequently changed by the FIA with the intention of improving the on-track action and cutting costs.[29] Team orders, legal since the championship started in 1950, were banned in 2002 after several incidents in which teams openly manipulated race results, generating negative publicity, most famously by Ferrari at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix. Other changes included the qualifying format, the points scoring system, the technical regulations and rules specifying how long engines and tyres must last. A 'tyre war' between suppliers Michelin and Bridgestone saw lap times fall, although at the 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis seven out of ten teams did not race when their Michelin tyres were deemed unsafe for use. During 2006, Max Mosley outlined a ‘green’ future for Formula One, in which efficient use of energy would become an important factor.[30] And the tyre war ended, as Bridgestone became the sole tyre supplier to Formula One for the 2007 season.

Since 1983, Formula One had been dominated by specialist race teams like Williams, McLaren and Benetton, using engines supplied by large car manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Renault and Ford. Starting in 2000, with Ford’s creation of the largely unsuccessful Jaguar team, new manufacturer-owned teams entered Formula One for the first time since the departure of Alfa Romeo and Renault at the end of 1985. By 2006, the manufacturer teams–Renault, BMW, Toyota, Honda and Ferrari–dominated the championship, taking five of the first six places in the constructors' championship. The sole exception was McLaren, which is part-owned by Mercedes Benz. Through the Grand Prix Manufacturers Association (GPMA) they negotiated a larger share of Formula One’s commercial profit and a greater say in the running of the sport.[citation needed]

[edit] Possible breakaway
Main article: FIA–FOTA dispute
Search Wikinews Wikinews has related news: Formula One teams to set up breakaway championship

As a result of the ongoing governance crisis in Formula One, the eight remaining teams of the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) announced on June 18, 2009 that they had no choice but to form a breakaway championship series.[31]

The crisis originally formed around the proposed implementation of several radical changes to the 2010 regulations, most importantly the introduction of a £30 million budget cap (later revised to £40 million),[32] approved by the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) on March 17.[31]

Under the proposed technical regulations, teams operating with the budget cap would be granted greater technical freedom, which included adjustable front and rear wings and an engine not subject to a rev limiter.[32]

The FOTA believed that allowing some teams to have such technical freedom would have created a ‘two-tier’ championship, and thus requested urgent talks with the FIA. Talks broke down resulting in four of the teams, Ferrari, Renault, Red Bull and Torro Rosso threatening not to sign on for the 2010 championship unless the rules were revised.[31]

FOTA and the FIA again met for talks which again broke down, causing Ferrari to launch legal action to prevent the regulations from being applied, claiming that a previously signed contract between themselves and the FIA gave them right to veto any new rules, a clause which they believe the FIA ignored. The injunction was rejected in French courts.[31]

On May 25, Williams broke ranks with FOTA by submitting an entry for the 2010 season and were subsequently suspended indefinitely, which brought the number of teams active in FOTA down to nine.[31]

On May 29, the remaining FOTA teams submitted a joint, conditional entry which they state is only to be accepted if the proposed rules were amended to their preference. Seven days later, Force India revealed that they followed Williams and submitted an unconditional entry for the 2010 season and were also suspended.[31]

The FIA released the list of competing teams for the 2010 season on June 12. 2009 competitors were included with the addition of USGPE, Manor Grand Prix and Campos Grand Prix. The FIA recognized the conditional nature of five of the FOTA teams while automatically accepting the entries of Ferrari, Red Bull and Torro Rosso. The remaining conditional teams were given a week to submit unconditional entries.[33]

A day before the final submission deadline, FOTA announced that they were unified in creating a breakaway championship series due to the apparently irreconcilable differences between their views and those of the FIA.[31]

The FIA threatened legal action against the FOTA teams, claiming that they, and Ferrari in particular, had broken a signed contract to compete. It was estimated that the proposed lawsuit could be for as much as $1 billion.[34]

On June 21, Max Mosley decided that the FIA would not sue the teams, insisting instead that reconciliation was close.[35] Flavio Briatore denied the next day that a deal was close, insisting that FOTA was pressing on with their breakaway championship.[36]

On June 24, an agreement was reached between Formula One's governing body and the teams to prevent a breakaway series. It was agreed that the teams must cut spending to the level of the early 1990s within two years, however exact figures were not specified.[37]

However, shortly after this peace deal was reached on Wednesday, Max Mosley was reported as being 'furious' over remarks made by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo. Mosely, who clearly felt let down by the comments, later told the media that he was to 'leave his options open'.[38]

The statement, released by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, described Max Mosley as a dictator, also mentioning that he had been forced out of office with Michel Boeri taking his place until a new leader was elected in October. Mosley described these statements as being false as well as 'grossly insulting to the 26 members of the World Motor Sport Council who have discussed and voted all the rules and procedures of Formula One since the 1980s, not to mention the representatives of the FIA's 122 countries who have democratically endorsed everything I and my World Motor Sport Council colleagues have done during the last 18 years'.[39]

No apology was issued by FOTA or Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, sparking speculation that Max Mosley will seek re-election in October which would plunge Formula One back into crisis. Mosley's agreement to step down at the conclusion of his term was one of the major factors resulting in the reconciliation of FOTA with Formula One.

On 8 July, the FOTA published a press release stating that they had been informed that they were not entered for the 2010 season.[40] An FIA press release, published on the same date and regarding the same meeting, said the FOTA representatives had walked out of the meeting.[41]

On August 1, it was announced that the FIA had signed the new Concorde Agreement, bringing an end to the crisis and securing the sport's future until 2012.[42]