Massa bemoans F1 feud 'nightmare'

(GETTY IMAGES)

Felipe Massa has described the ongoing feud between the FIA and FOTA as "a nightmare" for Formula One.

Prior to yesterday's Turkish Grand Prix, team bosses and drivers of the eight remaining Formula One Teams' Association members met at the Toyota motorhome to discuss the way ahead.

On Friday, motor sport's world governing body will announce the 13 teams to form next year's grid, and the jury is out on how it will unfold given the furore surrounding the voluntary budget cap plan.

The FOTA eight - Ferrari, Toyota, Renault, BMW Sauber, McLaren, Red Bull Racing, Toro Rosso and Brawn GP - have made it clear they will sign up to F1 through to 2012, but with conditions.

They are demanding this year's regulations are in place for next season as they seek their own path to cut costs, whilst they also want a re-signing of the Concorde Agreement, a confidential commercial document governing the sport.

Waiting in the wings are 11 new teams happy to race under the £40m cap proposed by FIA president Max Mosley.

But Ferrari star Massa, like Renault's Fernando Alonso and Toyota's Jarno Trulli, has made it clear a breakaway series is not just an empty threat.

"For the moment it is a nightmare what is happening in this fight," insisted Massa, who finished sixth in Istanbul.

"As drivers we want to race in the best category, and that means the one that has the best technology, best teams and best drivers, a category that is the top one in motorsport.

"If we do what Mr Mosley wants, then we will not be at the top of motorsport. We will be in a different level.

"That is why we (the drivers) are together with the teams, we are together with FOTA, who I hope can strike a deal.

"I hope they can find a solution because we would love to carry on in F1.

"But if F1 is not possible because it is not F1 any more, then we will go to another championship."

Underlining Massa's point about the best competing with the best, Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber confirmed the drivers are unanimously behind their teams

"The circumstances out there in relation to the sport are changing pretty quickly," assessed Webber, runner-up to Brawn GP's Jenson Button at the Istanbul Otodrom.

"Our position is we are totally in support of FOTA. All the FOTA drivers are with FOTA in the future.

"We want to race against the best drivers in the world, we want to drive for the best teams in the world and that's the way we want to see it go forward.

"We hope there is...not a compromise - whatever they need to do to work with the FIA to have a very, very good championship next year.

"We're very, very confident, and we're trusting the FOTA teams and they are absolutely binding together.

"They are so strong together, and this is what we're very happy about.

"It is what is needed for the correct fashion of the governance of the sport, and to go forward."