In what could be construed as a case of 'sour grapes', former world champion and team boss, Jackie Stewart, has hit out at Ford's withdrawal from Formula One.

The American giant, which won on its F1 debut, with Jim Clark at Zandvoort in 1967, had purchased Stewart's own team in mid-1999 and entered the championship as Jaguar Racing in 2000.

In 5 seasons, the Milton Keynes outfit earned 49 championship points, its best results being a brace of thirds, courtesy of Eddie Irvine (Monaco 2001 and Italy 2002).

Although it was well known that Ford was unhappy with the team's lack of results, and the rising cost of competing in F1, and rumours of a sell-off were rife, nobody expected the bombshell of September 17, when the American giant announced that it was pulling out of F1 entirely.

Subsequently Jaguar Racing was sold to Red Bull, while Cosworth Racing was sold to Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe. Shortly afterwards, it was revealed that Stewart's own relationship with the manufacturer was to come to an end, after more than 30 years.

It's widely believed that Ford was unhappy that Stewart spent much of the summer touting a sizeable sponsorship deal - subsequently taken up by WilliamsF1 - with the Royal Bank of Scotland, whilst he maintained his relationship with Jaguar, which was sponsored by rival bank HSBC.

Now, Stewart has hit out at Ford claiming that its decision to withdraw is 'short-sighted.

"One of the great things about Ford is that the company was a global thinker," said the Scot. "I believe not having a presence in F1 will have long-term implications for the company. Even if it is not the case in America, grand prix racing still draws the biggest TV audience."

Ford had been one of the founder members of the Grand Prix World Championship, but withdrew from that also.