Formula One constructor Williams is the first current Formula One team to sign up for the 2010 championship, it was revealed yesterday.

Williams chief executive Adam Parr confirmed to Reuters, following a tip-off from elsewhere, that the former champions had submitted its entry despite an ongoing stand-off over between Ferrari and the FIA, the governing body for motorsport.

Ferrari has threatened to quit the sport after 60 years of competition if the 2010 rules – which introduce a budget cap of £40 million to cut costs in the sport - are not re-written.

Parr also stressed that the team remained committed to the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA), which has had ongoing talks with the FIA for a resolution to the situation.

“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."

“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. These include not only the procedural aspects of the budget cap but also other elements that will enable the higher budget teams to participate.”

FIA president Max Mosley suggested on Sunday that the budget cap could be delayed until the 2011 season but that he expects all teams to compete under the same rules. An FIA spokesman said the governing body would publish the 2010 championship entry list in June.

Source: http://www.sportbusiness.com