F1 awaits full budget cap plans

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FIA president Max Mosley has revealed that Formula 1's proposed budget cap will be more than £30m per team, ahead of a further announcement on Thursday.

Mosley, who has led motorsport's governing body since 1993, is positive teams will accept plans to reduce spend in the wake of the global recession.

"People cannot, in the current economic conditions, get enough money to survive without that," he told BBC Sport.

Mosley said he was confident teams wary of the cap could change their views.

Ferrari are believed to be the most stringent opponent of financial limitations, but Mosley believes the budget cap - which is set to be slightly higher than the £30m originally proposed - will be ultimately beneficial.We've not had any reaction because they haven't seen the detail," he said, confirming that comprehensive details would be released on Thursday.

"But I think when they do see it they may find it attractive.

"Like everybody else they need to save money, they have to think of their shareholders' money and not just spend like in the old days.

"I suspect when they see the figures everybody will come in under the cost cut, which will come in straightaway from 2010. I certainly hope so.

"It's important we get it in place because if not then we are going to lose a lot of the teams."

Mosley was speaking following Wednesday's extraordinary meeting of the FIA's World Motor Sport Council in Paris - where McLaren were handed a suspended three-race ban for misleading race officials at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

A fierce campaigner for cost-cutting across F1, Mosley announced in March that a voluntary cap of £30m would be introduced from next season, but said teams would have a choice.

The option, he said, would be a freedom to spend - but only operate within the existing technical constraints.

The alternative would be to work within the budget, but with the prospect of being technically innovative. The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) will discuss the new proposals in London on 6 May having, in January, unanimously agreed to a series of cost-cutting measures - including limits on expensive testing and a cheaper engine for smaller teams starting in 2010.

F1 is one of the biggest-spending sports in the world but the global recession has had a tangible effect, with Honda pulling out of the sport in December and Renault introducing wage reductions.

The budget cap could attract new entrants to the sport, with F1 commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone previously stating that he envisaged as many as three new teams next year.