Quotes of the Week

"They haven't seen the movie, have they, about when you split something up, what happens when you do that despite the best intentions or whatever. It's a shame because I don't quite get it why anyone would be against spending as little money as possible. Having been over there [Team Principal of Jaguar Racing F1 team], I do know that the people who have the power don't want to share the power. It's all about a meritocracy there, and their whole view is: 'Get your own. You're not going to get some of mine. You've got to go get your own'." Bobby Rahal, IndyCar team owner, Rahal Letterman Racing, commenting on the Formula 1 controversial budget cap and possible breakaway series

"Flavio Briatore wants to create a new series and decide everything. Luca di Montezemolo has a problem with the FIA president. With John Howett, I wonder: what does he want? I'm not even sure he knows himself. Everyone else just wants it all to stop so they can concentrate on the sport once again." Asked why the standoff continues even though the two warring sides seem basically agreed about drastic cost-cutting, Ecclestone explains: "Because it's not about that, it's about power." Ecclestone does not believe the threats about a breakaway championship are serious. "Can you really imagine going to the boards of these car companies and saying 'I need money for my new car, and I need the same amount again for our new series'?" Bernie Ecclestone, President and CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Association

"It could ruin it. It would be a disaster and they'd destroy the sport. I would hate to see any kind of takeover happen because it would be badly managed. They can't even run their own teams. They can't agree on anything. If the teams owned it they would destroy it." Bernie Ecclestone, despite earlier sympathizing with the teams' dislike of the proposed budget cap, he now believes unfettered spending "could be the curse of our sport".

"You're all loonies. It is the nature of the loonies that you don't really have a leader, that you are all loonies together." Max Mosley, FIA President, blasted the rebel FOTA leaders.

"Basically, the teams don't want agreement – they want sporting power and money. Many have already been paid half of their participation fees until 2012 up front and in one case they would have to pay back £100m, while others will run to tens of millions The amounts involved could be massive if we go for damages to Formula One. Breakaway? Pure fantasy, they know it is fantasy. It is never going to happen. If they set up the Golden Steering Wheel Championship, who will want to watch it? It is not the FIA Formula One World Championship. That is what counts. I know because I once tried to set up a rival series with Bernie Ecclestone. I am less likely now to step down in October because any thoughts I had about retiring are fading. If I dropped dead tomorrow they will probably get someone worse than me, with far less understanding of F1." Max Mosley, FIA President

“What will happen now is that this discussion will continue for a while and then at some point we will find that when it starts to get important to know what is actually happening, which won’t be for some time, we will find some of the teams, the FOTA teams, will then come into the championship," he said in an interview with the BBC. Other teams will already be there. And how long that will take is very difficult to predict because people take entrenched positions and so on, but nobody wants this. It is not greed, it is more about power," he said about the dispute. “There are one or two individuals… well there is one individual who fancies himself as the Bernie [Ecclestone]. Whether he could do the job or not I don’t know. I think Flavio Briatore sees himself as the Bernie. He is fully entitled to that view, but I think Bernie would feel if he wants my business, or CVC’s business, then he should come and buy it, he can’t just take it. As far as the governing body is concerned, I don’t know whether any of them actually want to make the rules, because they can never agree on the rules. And when they do agree on them, they disagree on what they mean. The famous double diffuser was entirely drawn up by the teams and then we had to settle who was right in their interpretation of the rules which they had drawn up. There is not a lot of future in that. This is what it is all about – certain people would like certain positions and you can understand that, but there are correct and incorrect ways to get it. The thing is we have got very good legal advice and it is very strong and very clear, so we are very confident." Max Mosley, FIA President, believes the standoff between teams and the FIA has been caused in part by the desire of individuals to take control of running the sport — and he singled out Renault boss Briatore in particular.

"Which races are we talking about? How much TV coverage will there be? Who's putting up the money? Where and how much? No one is talking about that. We'll be racing next year. I'll be astonished if we're not and I believe we'll be racing against the present teams. Anyway, fighting one's corner helps to pass the time. We have a niche in F1. We're an independent team, we're always going to be there, god willing, and we do it because we want to. We love it, we live for it. I'm sorry, that sounds a bit sanctimonious and it's not meant to be, but I'm just telling the truth." Sir Frank Williams, Team Principal, Williams, is skeptical the FOTA teams will carry through their threat to establish an alternate series. Williams believes a solution will ultimately be found to reunite FOTA with formula one, the governing FIA and Bernie Ecclestone.

"It's a bad thing to have a split, but I think that has been forced upon the teams, particularly the large multi-national corporations involved in it. When you're talking about Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Toyota, Ferrari and Renault, these are big companies that feel they are being pushed around by the governing body in a way that is inappropriate. I think they do want Max to go because I think frankly some of the decisions made over the years have been very questionable, and a lot of people are kind of fed up with the dictatorial attitude. The trouble is Max has gone too far with this and the teams have suddenly said 'I'm sorry, we can't take it any more'. It may well be that Max Mosley has to go. He has a great position of power, but big trees do blow over. Bernie Ecclestone must surely play a part in this as well because he has the commercial rights. He has to also influence Max on how he goes about his business. He has been doing it with a very imperial role for probably too long. But empires do come to an end, as Julius Caesar found out." Sir Jackie Stewart, 3 times Formula 1 World Drivers Champion