The lamentable quality of Formula One racing during the past season, the resultant decline in the world-wide audience and the increasing pressure on sponsorship money has forced the team bosses into accepting some big changes from the FIA.

With 12 team slots available in Formula One racing and only ten being taken up, team bosses have seen their franchises' value sink to zero. Prost and Arrows have both disappeared and there were fears that a couple more teams might follow them into bankruptcy.

Even the massive personal fortunes of the team bosses were coming under threat with the announcement that Cosworth (Ford) was persuing Tom Walkinshaw personally for £2.5m it claims it is owed for engine supplies to Arrows.

The radical moves which have today been announced are a combination of brave and barmy. There is to be a complete ban on drivers' electronic aids, cars to be in parc ferme between qualifying and the race, there will be no telemetry or radio communications between car/driver and the pits and only two cars per team will be allowed, i.e. no spare car. The Jordan and Minardi teams have also been given unspecified financial assistance by Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA. No wonder Eddie Jordan, whose squad is understood to be struggling to raise a substantial budget for 2003, declared the meeting: "The most positive between team bosses ever. This is a great day for us."

All the above are supposed to be introduced in time for the 2003 season but in a curious arrangement the FIA's Max Mosley has said that traction control could be retained for 2003 if a team could demonstrate that it would cost more money to remove it than to leave it on. Nothing like clarity.....

For 2004 teams will be required to use standardised braking systems, rear wings and other main components. For 2005 engine life will be extended to two races per unit and in 2006 engines will be expected to complete six races.

Whilst the Ferrari team have not yet made any official comment Michael Schumacher said "I got to hear these decisions very late last night and the feeling is that maybe a little bit short notice to apply certain rules. The teams, in the end, have to see whether they can deal with it or not, it's not for me [to say]. I race the car and for me it doesn't make a huge difference because I race with whatever I have as long as everyone is racing to the same rules."

Schumacher denied that he thought the FIA moves were aimed specifically to slow Ferrari down this season. "A good team will always be a good team. The success of a good team is not really because of one reason, there are thousands of reasons because there are so many different things on the car which make a car good."

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