The debate began over the introduction of a budget cap and culminated on the eve of the 2009 British Grand Prix with the FOTA teams announcing their intention to form their own rival breakaway series.
The origins of the dispute may be traced as far back as the middle of 2008 when regulations that would see the single biggest overhaul in the sport's sixty-year history were approved for the 2009 season.
The courts ruled that Ferrari's objections were baseless; given its history and close association with the sport, the team had been awarded a technical veto a decade beforehand that would have allowed them to prevent any regulation changes they disagreed with, but the court ruled that as Ferrari had not used the veto at the previous meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council, they did not have grounds for a legal challenge.
Seven of the FOTA teams – Ferrari, BMW Sauber, Toyota, Renault, Brawn GP, Red Bull and Toro Rosso announced their intentions to withdraw from the 2010 championship by virtue of not submitting entries.
[6] Concurrently to this, the FIA intended to open the 2010 grid up to three new teams, and received entries from fifteen interested parties, including Prodrive, Lola, USF1 and Brabham.
In the week preceding the British Grand Prix, the eight remaining FOTA teams wrote to the FIA, calling for an urgent compromise to the situation and requesting an extension to the deadline in order to negotiate a new Concorde Agreement.
The FIA replied within two hours, indicating that it was willing to deal with FOTA, but stated that the June 19 deadline would stand owing to obligations to the potential new teams and the inability to agree on a new Concorde Agreement in such a short period of time.
Mosley's proposal would see the introduction of a budget cap, engine and gearbox rules remaining fixed and the allowance of tyre warmers which were previously expected to be banned for 2010.
[11] FOTA, however, disagreed, claiming that the decision had already been made and that they would not be changing their minds, though Red Bull's Christian Horner stated that he felt it was foolish to commit to everything too soon.
Commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone later vowed to ensure the future of the sport, claiming that the ongoing issues between the FIA and FOTA amounted to "basically, nothing".
[18] Later that same day, Bernie Ecclestone announced that he would be involved in the process and vowed to have the sport's future secured with a new Concorde Agreement signed within forty-eight hours, ending the breakaway threat,[19] and on July 15, it was confirmed that Max Mosley would step down from the FIA Presidency.
On July 12, unsuccessful applicants N.Technology filed a legal challenge against the FIA in Paris, claiming they had been informed that the only way to receive an entry for 2010 was to nominate the use of a Cosworth spec-engine when the team felt it stood a "real chance" of securing a deal with a current engine supplier.
[21] On the weekend of the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, the thirteen teams met with commercial rights holder CVC to discuss a new Concorde Agreement which would guarantee the sport's future until 2012.