Bernie heads another F1 crisis meeting

Is Bernie really moving to start a breakaway series or is this just another one of his annual media gimmicks to get F1 some free publicity?

(GMM) The political undertone to this weekend's Canadian grand prix event continued on Saturday, with a second crisis meeting in as many days.

Bernie Ecclestone again chaired a gathering of team bosses, amid paddock speculation the F1 chief executive is adeptly driving suggestions of a split with the controversial Max Mosley-led FIA.

Following the sex scandal, the rift between formula one and Mosley has taken on a new significance as it becomes clear that a war is being waged about a new Concorde agreement.

Whether the breakaway threat – for a new championship called 'GP1' – is genuine or not, Ecclestone is making the stakes abundantly clear to Mosley: "They (the FIA) have the rules but no teams and no contracts."

He told the Sunday Express: "I'm certainly not advocating a breakaway but in theory they (the teams) could do their own deal for TV, whatever.

"NASCAR do it all for themselves in the States but I don't know if they really want to do this in F1."

The German magazine Auto Motor und Sport reveals that Ecclestone has the backing of Honda and McLaren, while Toyota and Williams are reluctant.

A Ferrari indicated the Maranello team is for now not taking a side, while BMW's Mario Theissen said: "At the moment I do not have a clear picture.

"In all scenarios, a separate series would not be the first option," he added.