Williams submits 2010 entry

Williams has become the first of the current Formula 1 teams to submit its entry for next year's world championship.
With the Formula One Teams' Association still embroiled in tense discussions with the FIA over the 2010 rules, and the likes of Ferrari, Toyota and Red Bull threatening not to enter next year at all, there had been speculation that the existing ten squads might all agree to withhold their 2010 entries until the situation was resolved.But Williams has now committed to next season, ahead of the 29 May deadline imposed by the FIA.The team's CEO Adam Parr said Williams felt that discussions with the FIA had now reached a point where the squad felt comfortable about submitting its entry.
"We believe that under the leadership of [Ferrari president Luca] di Montezemolo and [Toyota motorsport president] John Howett, FOTA has extracted some very significant concessions from the FIA," Parr told the Reuters news agency."These include not only the procedural aspects of the budget cap but also other elements that will enable the higher budget teams to participate.
"Having said that, Williams has – and has always maintained – that we have a binding contract with both FOM [Bernie Ecclestone's company] and the FIA to participate in the world championship from 2008 to 2012."We have been paid in full for our participation and we feel both morally and legally obliged to make it clear that we will participate in Formula 1 in the future as we have in the past 30 years."We owe this to our employees, our sponsors and the fans, all of whom are affected by statements that the teams may not enter next year's championship."But Parr insisted that Williams's move should not be interpreted as a break from FOTA.
"The unity of FOTA is of paramount importance to Williams," he said."Yesterday we joined the other members of FOTA in writing to the FIA to request a continuing effort to find a compromise concerning the regulations for 2010."
Williams has always admitted that it is more open to the idea of a budget cap than many of its rival teams, although it shared its peers' other concerns about the FIA's implementation of the rules.