Formula One's governing body has made teams a final offer, with changes to the controversial 2010 rules, in a bid to prevent the sport from tearing itself apart.
Five of the existing 10 teams - championship leaders Brawn, BMW-Sauber, McLaren, Renault and Toyota - risk exclusion if they do not sign up by tonight's deadline with an unconditional entry.
Should they fail to do so, there is a risk of them setting up a rival series with constructors' champions Ferrari and the two Red Bull teams also at loggerheads with the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).
Both sides are making last-ditch efforts to reach a compromise deal, however. In a new letter to the provisional teams sent out yesterday, the FIA president Max Mosley set out what the FIA was willing to concede in return for unconditional entries from the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA).
Changes included substituting the optional £40m (Dh239m) budget cap with a £85m one for 2010, which would be reduced later.
"There will be self-reporting of compliance using a reputable auditor," Mosley added, in a move to overcome the manufacturers' resistance to opening their books to the governing body. "Any suspicions of breach would be investigated by a mutually acceptable auditor of suitable standing."
He added that the amendments were those agreed between the FIA and FOTA, the eight member teams association, at a meeting on June 11.
Mosley added that the FIA was "not averse" to the teams' proposals concerning the International Court of Appeal and was prepared to discuss that and associated changes to the statutes of the governing body.
An appendix detailed changes to the published regulations, with a return to the 2009 rules in several areas.
That included engines, although Mosley said the Cosworth unit to be used by at least three new teams would remain unrestricted for 2010 only.
Thus far only Williams and Force India and three new teams, Campos Grand Prix, Manor Grand Prix and Team US F1 have been confirmed to race in 2010
Mosley has already warned there will be no more deadline extensions after today for the teams to sign-up, and if they don't make uncondional entriesthen their places on the grid are in jeopardy if more new teams ready to step in if there are vacancies.
* Reuters
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
The specs
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Power: 153hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 4,000rpm
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Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
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How they line up for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix
1 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2 Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
3 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
4 Max Verstappen, Red Bull
5 Kevin Magnussen, Haas
6 Romain Grosjean, Haas
7 Nico Hulkenberg, Renault
*8 Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull
9 Carlos Sainz, Renault
10 Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
11 Fernando Alonso, McLaren
12 Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren
13 Sergio Perez, Force India
14 Lance Stroll, Williams
15 Esteban Ocon, Force India
16 Brendon Hartley, Toro Rosso
17 Marcus Ericsson, Sauber
18 Charles Leclerc, Sauber
19 Sergey Sirotkin, Williams
20 Pierre Gasly, Toro Rosso
* Daniel Ricciardo qualified fifth but had a three-place grid penalty for speeding in red flag conditions during practice
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The bio
Favourite food: Japanese
Favourite car: Lamborghini
Favourite hobby: Football
Favourite quote: If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough
Favourite country: UAE
HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
Fixtures
Friday Leganes v Alaves, 10.15pm; Valencia v Las Palmas, 12.15am
Saturday Celta Vigo v Real Sociedad, 8.15pm; Girona v Atletico Madrid, 10.15pm; Sevilla v Espanyol, 12.15am
Sunday Athletic Bilbao v Getafe, 8.15am; Barcelona v Real Betis, 10.15pm; Deportivo v Real Madrid, 12.15am
Monday Levante v Villarreal, 10.15pm; Malaga v Eibar, midnight
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP
Group A
Paraguay
Japan
Switzerland
USA
Group B
Uruguay
Mexico
Italy
Tahiti
Group C
Belarus
UAE
Senegal
Russia
Group D
Brazil
Oman
Portugal
Nigeria