Talks over breakaway series collapse

According to The Financial Times, Ecclestone called off talks about restructuring the championship, claiming that the car manufacturers had not responded to proposals that could give them greater control of F1.

The manufacturers, led by Ford, Fiat, DaimlerChrysler and Renault, have been seeking greater control in the future direction of the series, and want a sizeable chunk of the equity in F1 that is currently owned by three major German banks. They have also established a company, GPWC, to develop a rival series to Formula 1, which would begin in 2008.

Ecclestone was prepared to hand over some shares and controls to the manufacturers, but cancelled the talks because they had not responded. He told The Sunday Times: "I meeting was to give manufacturers some shares. We have been talking about it for a long time. The proposal was put to them for discussion - their bank has been given a proposal. We hadn't got any proposal back from [the manufacturer's bank] Goldman Sachs, so what's the point in having a meeting?"

FIA president Max Mosley has also reacted to the threat to set up a series to rival Formula 1, by stating that the FIA would sanction any series set up, but would not credit is as a world championship.