Phoenix v. FIA court case

[Adam43]

The court case between the FIA and Phoenix started on Monday (13/5/2002).

Apparently there has been an early blow against the FIA. The statement they released at Malaysia was incorrect. This was the statement that referred to the trnasfer of ownership of Prost.

It is reported at http://www.autosport.co.uk/newsitem....18994&series=5

Apparently this could be resolved by the end of the week.

We'll see. Somehow I can't see the FIA losing, but you never know.

[Lee Janotta]

Jeez... Who'd have thought Pheonix wouldn't be the farce of the year?

[Valve Bounce]

I see something more sinister here. Could it be that Team Phart are comtemplating suing Bernie, Max, and the FIA for stopping them from their "rightful" place in the pits for practice in Malaysia? I always suspected an ulterior motive in Tom Walkinshaw getting involved in this one. With the limited resources and running gear, that team would never have made it to the grid.

Valve[img]http://www.**************************/smilies/bouncy.gif[/img]

[Maxmil]

IMHO, this is a major development. If the FIA has really admitted that Phoenix acquired Prosts "entry rights" (Which the French Court certainly believes it transfered to them.) then Max has taken a big punch in the first round. About all that is left to argue about is what the FIA should do to give Phoenix a reasonable chance to exercise this right, or, as Valve Bounce suggests, what the damages have been. Personally, I hope the FIA concedes Phoenix the right to start cars in 2003, and they then sell that right to Honda or some other serious competitor.

[Super Tourer]

According to a snippet in Motorsport News, 'Phoenix' was painted on the tarmac in the A1- ring F1 paddock, implying that parking up spaces had been reserved in their name.....maybe an over zealous official.....or maybe the FIA were expecting them to show up......

[Stephen Green]

Interesting. Of course what F1 needs more than anything else at the moment (apart from a lack of adverse publicity) is 12 teams on the grid. With constant rumours of Arrows and Jordan being in financial difficulties the sport can ill afford to lose another entry.

[f1manoz]

F1 may gain another entry if Phoenix were allowed to join, but how long, realistically, would they last?

I doubt they'd see out the season if they joined, plus I also doubt they'd even qualify. Do they even have a team?

[Mr V]

Originally posted by Maxmil
Personally, I hope the FIA concedes Phoenix the right to start cars in 2003, and they then sell that right to Honda or some other serious competitor.

i'm wth you on this one Max, F1 needs a full grid, how can the "worlds premier motorsport" not have a full grid, it's a travisty! but as you say, lets just hope that whoever comes in, is serious about F1

[f1manoz]

If we want to go further will 'full grid', they should rid of that ridiculous that states only 24 cars are allowed. What happens if next year 3 car manufacturers turn up saying they want to race but there is only one available.

No team should be forced to sell their team to that manufacturer but those manufacturers should be allowed to participate. Therefore, the cap of 24 is wrong.

[Stephen Green]

I agree but it was done to 'protect' the value of the assets of the other teams.

[Super Tourer]

You could still limit it to 24 cars on the grid and take us back to the old day's of pre-qualifying.

This would give the race fans some 'meaningful' extra running and could throw up some 'freak' results, with anyone that fell outside the 24 cars (for whatever reason) not taking part in practice.

This might make F1 a bit more interesting, without the FIA's proposed engine penalties.

[kmchow]

OTOH, surely any current non-Works supported teams would love the chance of some manufacturer offering them engines? Prererably cheap or even free of course. With 12 teams allowed in the charter, there are currently 5 teams which don't have official factory support. I am excluding customer engines/no name engines. So theoretically, 5 more manufacturers can enter F1?

Shouldn't the bigger question be more whether which 5 manufacturers would race in F1? There aren't many stand alone "autogroups" many capable of racing in F1? The only autogroups not racing in F1 now are probably the VW/Audi/etc.. and GM/Opel/etc... autogroups. Of course, I'm assuming that autogroups like GM/Opel wouldn't want Opel/Cadillac brands competing. Ditto for Jaguar/Volvo competing against each other in F1 for example?

So the few remaining team spots isn't a big deal?