Mosley Dismisses GPWC Threat

Max Mosley, president of the ruling International Automobile Federation (FIA), said on Saturday he still believed there would ultimately only be one championship despite attempts from GPWC to set up a rival series.

Formula One's European carmakers claimed a "significant step forward" after meeting teams to discuss a planned new championship from January 2008. GPWC was set up after Germany's now failed Kirch media group bought a controlling stake in Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone's SLEC holding.

SLEC have the commercial rights to Formula One for 100 years but the teams are only bound to participate until the end of the Concorde Agreement between them, the FIA and Ecclestone in 2007. After that date, they become free agents.

Bankers acting for Kirch have been talking to GPWC about selling the stake in SLEC but the carmakers have expressed little interest. However, Mosley said an accommodation between the parties was still the most likely outcome.

"My own view is that it will all end up being one championship," he said. "Everybody would lose if there were two championships. The FIA don't care, we'd regulate both quite happily, but it wouldn't be commercially very sensible and I think that's widely recognised.

"The danger is that if they go on talking about it for much longer it will start to interfere with the sponsors, make people uneasy. And that would damage Formula One as a whole. What we have been saying to everybody concerned is 'by all means have your negotiations but you must get this done quickly. Don't go on talking about it.'"