Max Mosley's 16 years as president of the FIA are poised to draw to a close after one of the most dramatic u-turns seen in F1.

Since announcing at the end of April a voluntary £40million budget cap would come into force from next year, Mosley has belligerently stood his ground for the last two months.

It was to the point where, during the course of the British Grand Prix weekend, the sport faced the serious threat of fracturing in two as the Formula One Teams' Association announced their intention to set up a rival series.

Arguably surprised by the defiance of the eight members of FOTA, Mosley has been forced into a climbdown to such an extent he will not now stand for re-election for a fifth term in office.

The concessions are sweeping as FOTA have the change in governance they demanded, there will be no cap for 2010 as the rules for this season will remain for next, and a new Concorde Agreement - the commercial document that governs the sport - will come into effect.

From Mosley's perspective, he has the three new teams he wanted on the grid next year, with the trio to be given technical assistance from the current teams to aid their induction into F1, and there will also be a reduction in spending to the levels last seen in the early 1990s.

The war is over, peace has broken out, and it is fair to assume it is the teams who will privately claim victory, most notably with regard to Mosley's departure, a man viewed as authoritarian and dictatorial.

"There will be no split. There will be one championship in 2010, which is something we'd all hoped for," said Mosley, even though his initial budget cap plans would have resulted in a two-tier championship

"We've reached agreement on a number of items, in particular we've reached agreement on reduction of costs.

"We've had significant help from the FOTA teams, and the objective is to get back to early 1990s levels within two years.

"It's a different way of doing the same thing. I always thought there wasn't much between us. Now we've agreed there isn't."

But crucially it is not Mosley's way, and instead there will be a 'glidepath' of the teams own choosing towards saving money, with "early 1990s levels" referring to around £40million.

Attempting to inflate the FIA's position, Mosley added: "The teams have got the rules they want and the stability.

"We've got the new teams in and we've the cost reduction - that's very helpful."

Despite a letter yesterday to all FIA members insisting he would be willing to stand for re-election in the wake of the teams' "attack" on the Federation, Mosley claims he has jumped, and was not pushed.

"I can have a peaceful summer for the first time in three years," smiled Mosley.

"My departure was planned, agreed, arranged - all the staff have known for months.

"But obviously I couldn't say it publicly because the moment you do you lose all your influence.

"Now I don't need influence, it's a satisfactory situation."

At the heart of brokering a deal between the FIA and FOTA has been F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, hardly surprising given he faced the prospect of seeing his £1.5billion per year empire crumble.

With so much money on the line, Ecclestone effectively knocked the heads together of Mosley and Luca di Montezemolo during talks last night and this morning ahead of a World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris from which the 78-year-old emerged claiming "common sense had prevailed".

Ferrari president and FOTA chairman Di Montezemolo has been Mosley's staunchest critic these past few weeks, and was the prime mover behind the possibility of a rival series.

Despite seeing off Mosley, Di Montezemolo refused to gloat as he said: "He has done a very good fix of the problem.

"When you have reached an agreement, everyone has to help in the same way.

"I think the decisions we have shared this morning are important.

"We will have the rules of 2009, same rules for everybody, and it means that we have stability."

Toyota Motorsport president and FOTA vice-chairman John Howett was clear in his position as to which side had claimed the higher ground at the end of this particular battle.

"I am pleased FOTA's proposals have been endorsed and approved by the WMSC today," remarked Howett.

"We look forward to working with the FIA Senate to achieve a prosperous and exciting future for Formula One and its millions of fans around the world."

It is the Senate who will effectively take control of F1 through to October when Mosley's current mandate ends and a new man - with Jean Todt the early favourite - will take control.

A planned FOTA meeting tomorrow in Bologna, initially designed to rubber-stamp the rival series, will still go ahead, with the teams instead planning for their future in F1 for at least the next three years as they have agreed to sign up through to 2012.