Stoddart warns breakaway threat not gone

On the back of Williams having recently turned their back on the Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association (GPMA) and committed to F1 beyond 2007, and claims that Toyota and Honda also want out of the rebel group, there is a growing view that the breakaway plans are now all but over.

But Stoddart believes it is still too premature to believe that Bernie Ecclestone and FIA president Max Mosley have won their fight against the manufacturers just yet.

"The manufacturers...are having a tough time with Mosley at the moment," said Stoddart in an interview with BBC Radio Five Live. "We all hope there will be a united F1 going forward from 2008, but we cannot quite close the chapter on that book yet.

"It is certainly looking promising with some moves recently, like Williams signing up for the Bernie/Max deal, but you would not completely write off there being some turmoil ahead."

Stoddart, who put himself right at the centre of recent politics in the sport before selling out to Red Bull, believes that the landscape could be changed in the next 18 months by a possible F1 pull-out by Renault.

The Australian claims that Fernando Alonso's recent decision to leave Renault and join McLaren is evidence that the French car manufacturer may not be committed to F1 for the long-term.

"The message that (Alonso's move) sends out behind the scenes is, what is Renault's intention from 2007?" he added.

"A lot of people have been making predictions that they may get out of the sport after 2006 or 2007, and this moves show me Renault were prepared to let him go. That would not have happened without quite a lot of thought."