Dennis presses 'F1 banks'

The TV and other commercial rights for F1 racing are held for the next century by , owned by Bambino (an Ecclestone family trust) and three banks which acquired their stock after the failure of German media conglomerate Kirch Gruppe, in exchange for outstanding loans.

Dennis continued: "Unfortunately, 75 percent in virtually any business, and certainly ours isn't the exception, constitutes control. There seems to be a complete naïvete in all three banks in so much that anybody purchasing shares in that particular time is [now] exposed to at least [a] 50 percent loss, purely as a result of the world economy and the 'dot.com' bubble bursting.

"They fail to grasp that very simple economic fact, which makes finding a way forward very difficult. They are reluctant to crystallize their loss and turn to the future of F1 and a more practical way to generate an income from their investment.

"They have a non-realistic approach to the future. It is that fundamental point we should lift our sights to, and try to rise above these inevitable lesser issues. This is currently a great sport controlled by disinterested parties, who are not prepared to sit down and talk about the things that we need to do to address some of the future issues."