Formula One Rebels Threaten Codemasters’ Franchise

Codemasters’ new Formula One franchise could already be in tatters as news emerged of a schism in the sport this morning.Following weeks of negotiations over the FIA’s decision to introduce a voluntary budget cap of £40m GBP for each team, the Formula One Teams’ Association (FOTA) has confirmed it will form a rival, breakaway series.FOTA consists of Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber, Brawn GP, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso leaving Williams and Force India as the only teams signed up for next year’s Formula One season.The news will come as a blow to Codemasters, which only recently picked up the Formula One license. The publisher has two games in development that revolve around the license, F1 2009 for Wii and PSP due out in October and F1 2010 for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 which is not due for release until mid 2010.Both games promise to include all of the tracks, drivers and teams from Formula One.We spoke to a Codemasters representative who declined to comment on the news. The company released new screens from F1 2009 this morning, check them out here.