EJ says Bernie is serious

Asked about that in Japan, rival team boss Eddie Jordan said: "If it is just a distraction I'd be surprised, because this is too serious an issue to let other things affect it.

"Maybe I will be proved incredibly naive at the end of the day, but I'm convinced that, in recent weeks, the number of calls that Bernie has made personally to all the teams, shows that he is very concerned.

"Remember, TV is Bernie's life blood. He created this. He also has a responsibility in that he knows what age he is, what greatness he has brought to the sport. He is probably thinking to himself: 'crikey, I don't want to go out of this and suddenly it's nowhere near as strong as it was five years ago'. His epitaph would not be quite as good as it if he sorted it.

"I really believe this is not an issue about money or who owns what. I think Bernie is passionately keen to making sure the show is right. It needs a somewhat draconian dictatorial type and decisions by people or parties not involved in the day-to-day running of a race team. We will never agree."