WilliamsF1 has meeting with FIA

By Andrew Hooper
September 10 2003

   
WilliamsF1 & McLaren meet with FIA
 
It was confirmed that representatives from both McLaren and WilliamsF1 held a meeting with FIA to clarify the situation regarding the tyre rule changes. Present at the meeting were Frank Williams and WilliamsF1 Technical Director Patrick Head, joined by McLaren's Ron Dennis and managing director Martin Whitmarsh. The meeting was conducted with Charlie Whiting, the FIA technical delegate.

After the meeting  Whitmarsh commented on the tyre issue by saying: "Potentially, this whole affair is throwing the world championship out of the window for both of us. We talked at length to Charlie but there is still a considerable concern about the issue of approving the tyres' conformity at the end of the race, even though Michelin have produced some new rubber which we tested at Monza last week.

"Put simply, we can either use the existing tyres and risk not conforming with these revised rule interpretations or we can use new tyres and still risk being illegal despite a loss of performance," he said. "Michelin has done a great job, but the changes in set-up we have had to make - to toe-in, camber and tyre pressures - have not worked to our advantage."

As for suggestions that the FIA is out to hinder both McLaren and WilliamsF1 in their championship hopes because of the position these teams took in regard to the rule changes announced at the start of the season the FIA said that this was nonsense.

FIA spokesman Richard Woods said: "The FIA's role is to enforce the rules. Tyres either comply with the regulations or they do not. Linking a regulatory matter to an entirely separate process bears no resemblance to the facts. It is just nonsense."
 
 
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