FOTA: Ferrari's special deal not a problem

Ecclestone hit out at Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo after the Italian said he wanted teams to get a bigger share of F1 revenues.

The F1 boss spoke openly about the Italian's squad more favourable financial deal compared to their rivals.

"Ferrari get so much more money than everyone else. They know exactly what they get; they are not that stupid, although they are not that bright, either," said Ecclestone.

"They get about $80 million (£54 million) more. When they win the constructors' championship, which they did this year, they got $80 million more than if McLaren had won it."

Howett said, however, that Ferrari's preferential situation was well known by all members of the Formula One Teams' Association, and said Ecclestone's attack was a non-event.

"He may be trying to [split FOTA] but all the information that was given is very transparent and openly shared among the members of FOTA, so it was a bit of a non-event because everybody is aware of the historic status [of Ferrari]," Howett told The Times.

Howett added that FOTA still wanted to discuss the sharing of the F1 income with Ecclestone.

"I think the majority position in FOTA is that people feel that the revenue for a modern professional sport is normally distributed more in favour of the participants than the property holder or the commercial rights-holder," he added.

"People want to open that discussion and achieve a much more consistent balance with the status in many other professional sports."

FIA president Max Mosley conceded that teams are now more united than ever before as they work towards reducing costs in order to survive the financial crisis.

"I think the teams are more united now because there are outside pressures on Formula One," he told the official Formula One website. The real tests of unity will come when there is a significant difference of opinion or when vital interests are threatened."