Todt confirms: Any team can miss up to 3 races in 2010

According to, well, nearly every Formula1 news source, FIA president Jean Todt confirmed what Bernie Ecclestone has been going on about for the past couple of days: the 2010 Concorde Agreement allows for any team to miss up to three (consecutive or non-consecutive) races during the season without being kicked out of the championship altogether.  Todt, according to this Reuters article, confirmed the rules change during “a media briefing in Paris.”  Some of Todt’s other recent statements (about a full grid for 2010 and how F1 needs to be more green) can also be found here at F1B.

Previous rules had any team who missed a race for reasons other than “force majeure” (a legal term meaning an event or effect that can neither be anticipated nor controlled, both acts of nature and people).  Not having one’s car raedy for the season-opening race would have previously fallen afoul of the rules, but now will not.  While most have been focusing on the idea that now the new teams can miss the first race, this new rule is available for any team.  For example, should Ferrari had been so shaken by Felipe Massa’s incident at the Hungaroring that they did not want to race Kimi Raikkonen, last season, they could not have sat out that round.  This season, they would be able to (not that I’m suggesting they did or would, but merely using the situation as an example).

There has been a lot of derision from fans that such a rule ought not be implemented and that it takes away from the natural racing in Formula1.  I’m still not sure how I feel about the option to miss three rounds of the championship.  I feel that is excessive.  But, I also think back to the 2005 US GP, when all of the Michelin-shod teams sat out the race.  What if there had only been one team running Michelins?  If they had not all banded together, a team might have run up against the rule then in place and been kicked out of the championship entirely.  Missing a race because you’re not ready seems against the spirit of racing.  Missing a race because of a tragedy feels altogether different.  Perhaps I’m working too much in shades of grey and missing the black and white picture of racing.