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FIA close to agreement on cost controls

Jean Todt: 'It is true that the FIA has been in consultation with the engine suppliers in order to reduce the cost increase' © Getty Images

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The FIA has confirmed that it will finalise the implementation of cost-control measures by the end of June after a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Friday.

Only days after Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo and FIA president Jean Todt called for a curb on spending, the WMSC has agreed that any changes regarding cost control and technical regulations need to be submitted by June 30.

However, it is possible talks could continue beyond that deadline although a source told the BBC that "they were nearly there" and added: "So far everything we want to put in the rules has the support of a majority of teams."

In recent weeks the FIA has been under significant pressure to cut costs in Formula One, both from the smaller teams for whom cost-cutting is a necessity, and from those who have seized on cost-cutting as a means of further delaying the 2014 engine specification change.

The governing body has been in cost-cutting discussions with the teams ever since they reached an impasse over the future direction of the Resource Restriction Agreement. But discussions reached a new level during last week's meeting of the World Motor Sport Council, and cost cutting will now be included in Formula One's technical regulations.

It is expected the deal will not involve a formal cap on budgets, but rather adopt a form of restriction on the way the teams can commit their resources.

"It's true that the [2014] package will be more expensive, but it is also true that the FIA has been in consultation with the engine suppliers in order to reduce the cost increase," Todt told Autosport. "For example we have already agreed to a reduction in the number of power units. From eight per driver per season in 2012, we will reduce this to five per driver in 2014 and to four per driver per season in 2015."

The statement added that the deadline for entries for next year's world championship had been deferred from July 15 until September 30.

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