GPWC to present blueprint

No date was given for the meeting, but the spokesman indicated to The Times newspaper that it would be before the Australian Grand Prix on March 6.

Among the promises being made to the teams by the GPWC (the company set-up by Mercedes-Benz, Fiat, Renault and BMW), will be an 80 percent share of the revenue - a vast increase over their current £100m per-year pay-out from Formula One Management principal Bernie Ecclestone.

The series, planned to begin in 2008, would also receive a set of regulations designed to make the sport more entertaining for the fans. Sweeping cuts in ticket prices are being proposed and an impetus is being put on ensuring broadcasters get better value for money from expensive rights contracts.

"We are not here to criticise Bernie Ecclestone because he has done an unbelievable job with Formula One, but it doesn't work as well as it could or should," a GPWC spokesman told the newspaper. "There are a lot of things that are right, but there are increasingly a lot of things that are not right.

"We have to move quickly because, realistically, things need to be in place during 2005 if we are to be ready in time."

This latest move from the GPWC adds a further twist to the saga of Ecclestone's fight to retain control of Formula 1. He recently lost a High Court case with the three banks that own 75 percent of F1, which gave them a greater say in the way the sport is run.

But Gerhard Gribkowsky, a representative for one of the three banks, Bayerische Landesbank, said before Christmas that Ecclestone would remain at the helm of the sport. The banks are understood to want to win back the will of the manufacturers to ensure their investment is protected.

Ecclestone also recently renewed his offer of an extra US$500m pay-out to the teams over the next three years should they remain loyal to Formula 1 beyond 2008.