Breakaway series will happen

Autosport's sources indicated that the four manufacturers behind GPWC (Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Renault) are no longer interested in reaching a deal with the current controllers of Formula 1 and are determined to form their own series.

The companies which control F1 are currently at the centre of a court battle to decide who will control F1 in the future, but the outcome of that legal battle will not affect the GPWC's position.

"We will be watching the lawsuit with interest. Whatever happens it won't stop GPWC pushing ahead with the new series," said Autosport's source within GPWC.

Part of the attraction of a new series for the manufacturers is the opportunity to set up a new, transparent, structure for the sport to replace the current situation in which the sport is run by a complex web of companies based in Jersey, the Netherlands and the UK.

The other major factor is the distribution of the huge profits of F1. Under its proposed system the new series would be run by one company (the recently appointed marketing specialist iSe) and the manufacturers would have access to all revenue streams and this have access to more of the profits.

The current situation is an ongoing cause for complaint. Renault team president Patrick Faure commented: "Seventy-five or 80 per cent of F1's profits stay with the 'Bernie system' and the teams receive just 20 or 25 per cent. I don't know any other sport that has that kind of statistic."