Dennis hints at rules favouratism

"People ask why aren't these guys [the team principals] all together, and the answer is because, quite deliberately, regulations are proposed that favour one team over another because of the circumstances they are in," Dennis said at Spa.

Dennis implied that new regulations demanding more durable engines and tyres would make Ferrari even stronger. Ferrari's recent reliability and specifically engine reliability, has been stunning, and technical director Ross Brawn admitted at Hockenheim that the team could "make the engine last two races tomorrow, simply by cutting 500rpm".

Dennis added: "If one team has an engine that currently does 1,500km and another has one that does 500km and suddenly you've got a rule that the engine has to do two races, then you have a situation where those who are already close to that level have got a clear advantage.

"Similarly, if you've got a tyre that is very durable and has less degradation over the distance of a Grand Prix [as Bridgestone currently has] and then suddenly you've got a regulation that says we are only going to use one set of tyres for a Grand Prix, then that team is immediately at an advantage.

"Putting aside who gets what, that's deliberate and the key ingredient in how to destabilise the teams and take their focus aware from trying to create commercial stability."

On the subject of tyres, meanwhile, Williams technical director Sam Michael said: "It's a long way to Melbourne '05 at the moment and six months of development can change your tyre a lot. Michelin know what the target is for next year and they are flat out designing tyres that can deal with that.

"Since the rule changes there has been a test ban but Michelin has tyres for the Monza test next week designed to the 2005 regulations. So they will be out there early and I think that's good."