BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — After hinting in Canada that the teams could form their own F-1 series, Bernie Ecclestone sent a letter to the FIA member clubs saying that the teams want the FIA to remain as the regulator of the sport.
“The position of Formula One Management and the teams and the Formula One promoters is very simple,” Ecclestone wrote in the letter. “They would like a Concorde Agreement signed in basically the same format as in the past agreements, which Formula One has been governed successfully by this type of document for over 25 years which helps to stabilize the Technical and Sporting Regulations.
“It follows the agreement reached with the European Commission where the FIA are the regulators of the sport and FOM are the commercial side of Formula One. We would hope that this can continue.”
While acknowledging again that a number of teams, sponsors and F-1 manufacturers want Max Mosley to quit, Ecclestone reiterated that they are not members of the FIA and therefore have no say in the matter.

• British F3 team Ultimate Motorsport is negotiating with Red Bull to buy into the Toro Rosso team. Given the dubious future of customer cars in F-1, which will almost certainly be outlawed in 2010, Dietrich Mateschitz has been looking for the right buyer for his 50 percent of Toro Rosso. Gerhard Berger, who owns the other 50 percent, said earlier this year that he has yet to decide if he will sell his shares.

• June 9 marked the 40th anniversary of McLaren’s first Grand Prix victory when team founder Bruce McLaren won the Belgian Grand Prix. McLarens have won 158 times in all, second only to Ferrari with 205 victories.

• Jackie Stewart continues to insist that disgraced FIA President Max Mosley must resign.
“He is failing to recognize that a lot of companies do not want to see him in the paddock, nor do the royal families of Spain, Bahrain and Monaco,” Stewart told The Independent. “It is extremely selfish of Max to say that he can continue. At what cost to motorsport? If he doesn’t care about the damage he is doing, he is not the quality of person that should be doing that job. I am simply bamboozled by the arrogance of that attitude. It is just totally self-serving.”

• Although Robert Kubica is now leading the World Championship, BMW Sauber will continue to give Nick Heidfeld equal treatment and equipment rather than focusing its efforts on a Kubica title bid.

• McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh says BMW Sauber is a serious threat for the championship honors. “The reality is they have consistently scored points and done a good job,” he said.

• Melbourne will continue to host the Australian Grand Prix until 2015. The Herald Sun reports that the Victorian state government has reached a verbal agreement with Bernie Ecclestone to extend the race’s contract an additional five years.
The race will not be held at night, which is something Ecclestone desperately wanted so that it could be televised in primetime back in Europe, but the start time may be moved back to 5 p.m.

• Flavio Briatore’s playboy days ended when he married model Elisabetta Gregoraci, 30 years his junior, in Italy on June 14. Among the many high-profile guests was Fernando Alonso, who acted as the couple’s chauffer.

• All the teams except Force India went to their home away from home — Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya — for three days of testing last week. Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer was quickest on the first two days while Renault’s Nelson Piquet topped the times on day three.

• Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali says his team needs to get back to its high points earning standards.
“BMW took a lot of points [in Montreal],” he said. “McLaren not too many, but they are strong, they will be there. We need to keep on working.”

• While McLaren had a miserable race in Canada, Lewis Hamilton remains optimistic.
“Our overall pace was a great boost for the whole team,” he said. “Last year, we lacked a little bit of pace in high-speed corners, but this year’s car definitely seems to have overcome those shortcomings. We are in good shape.”