In the 1950s, as post-war austerity gave way to a new consumer culture, British prime minister Harold MacMillan famously told the people that "they'd never had it so good".

Half a century later, FIA president Max Mosley is telling the Formula One community pretty much the same thing.

Despite the number of issues currently threatening the sport, including the split over Mosley's cost cutting proposals, the Grand Prix World Championship and Bernie's ongoing battle with the banks which own 75% of F1, the FIA president is attempting to convince all and sundry that the future is rosy.

"I think Formula One's never been in better shape," he told reporters yesterday, "at least in the 13 or 14 years that I've been involved.

"The two teams that were in the most danger have been taken over by people with massive resources," he continued, referring to Jaguar and Jordan.

"Of the other two," he added, clearly referring to the remaining 'independent' teams Minardi and Sauber, "I understand in respect of one of them that negotiations are currently underway again with an organisation with very significant resources.

"That means the financial crisis that was threatening Formula One last autumn has disappeared," he continued.

"As far as the FIA is concerned costs are now off the agenda unless, and until, we have another financial crisis and that's a huge relief because we really don't want to spend a lot of time on things like that unless we have to."

As ever, much of the wrangling that has blighted the sport in recent years has involved money, or rather the small amount of it being passed on to those that provide 'the show' that is F1, the teams and the manufacturers. That is about to change promises Mosley.

"From 2008 on the teams are effectively going to get 50% of the gross income essentially," he said, referring to Bernie Ecclestone's cash incentive to the teams, aimed at killing off any threat of a breakaway series. "That represents a substantial increase over what they are getting now, a very substantial increase.

"The teams' income from 2008 on is enormous, if they sign up," he continued. "Looked at it from the outside, and completely neutrally, it does mean that the task facing any rival series is uphill. They would have to find enough money to pay people more than that without having the advantage that Bernie has of long-term contracts with all the promoters and the television companies stretching through the 2008 to 2012 period."

Of course, when Macmillan said the people had never had it so good, he was, in many respects right. But then he was a politician, convincing the people is the name of the game.

However, we now know, to our cost, that politicians often get it wrong, and how. Sometimes they simply misread the situation (Neville Chamberlain and his piece of paper), at other times they simply lie (Tony Blair and the WMD).

Time will tell if Mr Mosley is right and F1 is thriving, but by then it could be too late.