Dave Richards is holding fire on confirming his entry into Formula One for next year until the latest political war is resolved.

The chairman of Aston Martin and Prodrive last week announced the possibility of a return to the sport having previously been team principal with BAR.

Thursday's increase in the budget cap by £10million to £40million has far from dissuaded Richards that competing in F1 is viable.

As far as the FIA are concerned, they are now not going to budge on the matter, and the 10 teams involved at present can take it or leave it.

The likes of McLaren, though, voiced their concern, and whilst no word emerged from Ferrari or BMW Sauber, you can guarantee they are unhappy.

It is why this issue is far from over, and why Richards is willing to take a back seat until negotiations between all parties have been concluded.

"The new regulations announced by the FIA are very much in line with what we were expecting," Richards said.

"We remain encouraged by the new rules, which have the potential for a team to be commercially viable and competitive on a far more realistic budget.

"We also welcome the confirmation that FOM (Formula One Management, via Bernie Ecclestone) will provide financial support to the new teams.

"However, it is important for us and our partners that there is stability in the sport with broad alignment on the future direction of Formula One, and this will be a critical issue in our decision making process."

The fear amongst the major manufacturers is a two-tier championship will unfold next year given the discrepancy in the regulations.

Teams agreeing to the budget cap will be allowed to use an engine with no rev limit, get twice the power out of KERS, use movable front and rear wings, and enjoy unlimited out-of-season testing.

Those teams who decide a cap is unworkable would have to abide by the current rules and use their considerable resources to try and exploit them in other ways.

That, though, is not a route they want to head down, so it promises to be somewhat feisty when the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) meets in London next Wednesday to discuss the matter.

Expressing his concerns, McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said: "We understand some teams' operational budgets may still be unnecessarily high in the challenging global economic situation in which we now find ourselves.

"Nonetheless, we believe the optimal solution, which may or may not include a budget cap but which ideally would not encompass a two-tier regulatory framework, is most likely to be arrived at via measured negotiation between all parties."

As an independent team owner, Frank Williams is happy with the budget cap figure, although like Whitmarsh is not enamoured at the prospect of a two-tier title fight.

"We would like to see all the teams operating to one set of regulations and under a budget cap in 2010, and that is the position we will be advocating within FOTA when we meet next week," Williams said.

"We understand this will represent a serious challenge for some of the teams, but we expect that FOTA will work together to find a unified and constructive way to take the FIA's initiative forward."