On the 28th of June, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo because of dispute between Slavs and the ruling Austro Hungarian empire. Those events set alight the fuse that became the first world war - a pointless waste of millions of lives fought over miniscule, muddy yards for entirely flawed reasons. Formula one is awash with rumours of war, and I despair of the similarities.

Conditional entry submissions falling foul of FIA legal intricacies, public petitions, peak automotive bodies taking sides, 11th hour talks, long-standing teams possibly in doubt for next season, open media jousts, leaks, counter leaks. The winds of revolution are gusting through F1 and one could be forgiven for suspecting that the sport's two most powerful men appear to have become so complacent in their absolute power as to believe this will all just go away. Quite ironic considering how both came upon their respective positions of power in the first place.

For the benefit of those not up to speed, Formula One teams have banded together to form a unified front - a kind of millionaires' union - called FOTA (Formula One Teams Association). Seems they have the idea in their collective heads that since they spend all the money to provide the show, they ought be entitled to a bigger slice of the revenue generated by the sport and even have some input into the framing of the rules that determine their future fortunes. This puts them at odds with the FIA, which makes the rules and is headed by Max Mosley, and the commercial rights holders, who rake in the revenue and are headed by Bernie Ecclestone.

Now FOTA is not to be confused with the historic body FOCA (Formula One Constructors Association). FOCA was called into existence back in the 1970s when the teams decided to form a unified front - a kind of paupers-who-wanted-to-become-millionaires union. Seems they had gotten the idea in their collective heads that since they spent all the money to provide the show, they ought be entitled to a bigger slice of the revenue generated by the sport and even have some input into the framing of the rules that determined their future fortunes. That put them at odds with a body called FISA (Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile), an antonymous subcommittee of The FIA. Oddly enough, FOCA was lead by Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley, both then mere team principals.

The exceptionally truncated history is that by the early 1980s, a state of outright war erupted between FISA and FOCA which included a form of breakaway series (sound familiar?). When the battle was over FOCA had won and among the victors' spoils were the presidency of the FIA for Mr Mosley and the commercial rights landing in the lap of Mr Ecclestone.

Like I said, quite ironic.

But do you know what peeves me the most about the battle whose prologues are presently all over the press? Having regarded accounts of the dispute - at least as best as possible given both sides' divisive use of the press - neither side are actually addressing that which I for one have been carping on about for years. The utterly boring state of F1 racing.

The 2009 Melbourne Grand Prix was a false dawn. I was gladdened to see Button and Brawn on the podium with notable mentions for Red Bull, Vettel and Kubica (right up until they removed each other from podium finishes). Even Lewis' long-since-dismissed-and-slightly-naughty podium suggested that McLaren were there or thereabouts. So not withstanding a poorly stewarded and lengthy kerfuffle about diffusers things did look promising.

Was this the new era I had so long craved? There were, after all, "radical" new rules. Reduced rear wings, diminished sundry bodywork, the straightening of the hideous contraptions that front wings had become, the return of slick tyres and something called KERS (allegedly pronounced "curse").