So it appears the FIA and Max Mosley will be holding firm on their controversial budget cap plans after giving the FOTA (Formula One Teams Association) until the 17th June to sign up for next season.
The list of participants for next year has been announced with just three new entries alongside Ferrari, Red Bull and Toro Rosso, who are contractually obligied to participate, according to Mr Mosley.
The rest of the season taking part this season have been included on the list of participants for next season and told that if they sign up 'unconditionally' for next year that they will be part of talks to discuss next seasons rules.
The teams themselves are wary, as they should be, of signing up without a new confidential Concorde agreement that restricts drastic rule changes without the involvement of the teams.
They want a longer 'glide path' down to the propsed $40m budget cap and are disappointed by the FIA's unwillingness to discuss on their terms.
I'd side with the teams on this one as they are likely to be trapped if they agree to Mosley's unconditional offer. Should they sign they will be unable to influence the rule changes, and if they don't they won't have a sport to take part in next season.
