RRA could spell end of FOTA, warns Horner

Further to the comments expressed on the subject of F1's Resource Restriction Agreement during Friday's FIA press conference in Korea, the teams' association met before Sunday's grand prix to try and find a common direction for the future.

Mercedes' Ross Brawn has already acknowledged that there are eight teams living comfortably within the confines of the agreement, which tries to limit the spending power of the bigger teams - not only to make the sport more competitive, but also to keep the smaller teams from over-stretching themselves while trying to keep up [see story here] - but both he and Red Bull's Christian Horner warned that stronger controls needed to be put in place to ensure that the idea works long-term.

Following a FOTA meeting on the morning of the Korean race, however, Horner's tone was more sombre as he claimed that failing to reach an accord on the future of the RRA could have wider-reaching implications.

"I think that FOTA has reached the crossroads where it needs to deal with some of the key issues moving forward or we'll stop - it's as simple as that," he revealed to Reuters, "The principal issues are obviously the Concorde Agreement, the direction that goes in, and fundamentally the RRA. If we can't find agreement within FOTA on that then what is the purpose of FOTA?"

Both agreements are up for renewal in the next twelve months, and Horner is concerned that the recent unity enjoyed by the teams could be shattered by discussions over a way forward.

If a solution isn't found on the direction the teams want to go in, then yes," he confirmed, "I'd be wrong to comment on the content of the meeting, but those are the fundamental issues that need to be addressed. Obviously, RRA is something that's under discussion, under debate for the future, and it's something that needs to be addressed to take away some of the paranoia that currently exists."