Dennis calls on factions to solve rights 'crisis'

The five European-based car manufacturers involved in F1 have threatened to form a breakaway series if they do not receive a greater say in the running of Grand Prix running.

The 'Big Five' are concerned that German media giant Kirch and its partner EMTV, which have secured a majority stake in F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone's SLEC company, will attempts to take F1 onto pay-per-view television.

SLEC is the company which holds the commercial rights to F1 until 2110. By buying an extra 25 percent from Ecclestone for a rumoured US$1 billion, Kirch and EMTV will hold 75 percent - and theoretically call the shots over the sport's TV profile.

While the influential McLaren team boss said he was convinced F1's decision-makers "would not muck it up", he did not rule out the possibility of the sport fragmenting in six years time.

But he added that it was business as usual until then - and it may be at least another month before there would even be sensible proposals for all sides to discuss.

Team bosses meet in the paddock at Imola on Friday night, but many have remained tight-lipped about the discussions.

"I am passionate about Formula 1," said Dennis. "My intention is to try and bring a positive influence and use my knowledge, the support of Daimler-Chrysler and the support of my colleagues in Formula 1 to try and find a solid solution for the future. That is the important thing.

"So much of the debate is so ill-informed or inaccurate that it is counter-productive to the future. We should be stabilising Formula 1, not tearing it apart. "

But Dennis - one of the sport's leading figures for more than two decades - believes that nobody will break the current Concorde Agreement, which legally binds all the teams to the current format until the end of 2007, but does not specifically cover the manufacturers themselves.

Manufacturers are concerned they will end up paying billions of pounds for a sport watched by a few million pay-per-view subscribers because it is at the heart of the Kirch media empire.

"We have to be patient," said Dennis. "We have a legally binding agreement until 2007 and I don't think any of the parties that are bound by that, SLEC, the FIA and all the teams, have any intention of breaking it.

"We therefore have a lot of time to prepare for this if it happens. There is a sequence of things that have to happen first. It is going to take a month or two before it is even possible to sit down with all the interested parties with sensible solutions. In the mean time, it is business as usual.

"If there could be any alternative to what we have, we have to wait until 2007. In Formula 1, that is a lifetime away. A year in Formula 1 is a long time, six years is huge.

"Everybody wants the same thing - to have a successful Formula 1," he added. "We are not going to muck it up. There are too many people who have the right focus and the right level of commitment. I am confident of that."