It can be interpreted on two levels, benign and malignant

The FIA's bombshell of a new budget-capped tier of F1 from 2010 was so classic Max Mosley in its specific cleverness and the way in which it could be interpreted on two very different levels, benign and malignant. Here's a reading of each.

Benign: it addresses what has to be the major concern of F1 at the moment – cost-cutting. By creating a sub-class of F1 capped to a budget of only 10 per cent of the top spenders in 2008, it demonstrates to the addicted spenders how it doesn't have to be that way and gives F1 a survival strategy – surely only what a responsible governing body should be doing in these times of economic stringency.

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