Motorsport: F1 teams could boycott races, warns Minardi boss

Formula One teams could boycott races if the sport's governing body punishes them heavily for the US Grand Prix fiasco, Minardi boss Paul Stoddart has warned.

The seven teams using Michelin tyres have been summoned to the International Automobile Federation (FIA)'s world motor sport council meeting in Paris on Wednesday after pulling out of the June 19 race in Indianapolis on safety grounds.

Stoddart, who has acted as an unofficial spokesman for teams opposed to the FIA and Ferrari over proposed rule changes and testing, told BBC radio the consequences of 'draconian' sanctions could be far-reaching.

"I think there'll be action taken, I'm not saying it's going to be at the French Grand Prix," he said when asked whether a strike could hit next weekend's French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours if punishments were meted out.

"In the worst possible situation of (FIA president) Max (Mosley) putting in some kind of draconian penalty, would the other teams race? We'd have to have a meeting and you wouldn't want to guarantee it," added the Australian.

The seven teams are championship leaders Renault, McLaren, Williams, Toyota, Sauber, Red Bull and BAR.

They were advised by Michelin that their tyres were unsafe for the conditions after Toyota's Ralf Schumacher crashed heavily in practice.

Mosley, also speaking to the BBC, mooted a range of action after 120,000 fans at Indianapolis and a worldwide audience of tens of millions were left watching a six-car 'race'.

"Obviously you don't sanction people unless they are guilty and the first thing you've got to do is listen and see what they have to say because there are two sides to every story," he said.

"If they were found guilty, then it goes all the way from a reprimand through to being banned for life. I don't suppose either of those two alternatives would arise but there's a big range of things in between."

Mosley brushed aside calls for him to resign, made publicly by Stoddart after Indianapolis.

"It doesn't particularly bother me," he said.

"My predecessor, when he had a conflict like this and I must say I was on the other side with the teams, we used to ask him to resign on an hourly basis. He never took any notice.

"The fact is that the referee is often unpopular, it's something you can't avoid.

"I'd take not the slightest notice," he added, when asked what his response would be if the teams demanded he quit.

"I'm not here to try to be friends with the teams, I'm here to see that Formula One is run safely and fairly and that the rules are observed and it's the same for everyone."

- REUTERS