24/03/2005
NEWS STORY
As the rest of us attempt to figure out what sort of deal Bernie Ecclestone has agreed with the three banks, Formula One, and the proposed breakaway series Grand Prix World Championship (GPWC), rumble on.
Those involved in the GPWC are refusing to waste time pondering what deal Bernie and the banks might have agreed, and even as you read this are continuing with their plans for the new series.
First off is a name change, with Toyota and Honda not keen on joining a consortium that already appears second-hand in the wake of Ferrari's decision to stick with F1, the Italian team being a founding member of GPWC. Although various suggestions have been put forward, the name of the series matters little.
What is interesting is that, according to reports, various members of the nine Formula One teams are currently working on various projects relating to the breakaway series - we're talking names such as Patrick Head, who is understood to be heading the technical committee - with a firm proposal due to be put forward next month.
There are many, including Pitpass, who believe that, having established that the team owners are whores, Bernie merely has to find out the correct price, and that subsequently the whole pack of cards will come tumbling down, however, there really does appear to be a new found - should that read previously unheard of - unity between the teams.
Speculating on the deal that Bernie has agreed with the banks, a team principal told The Guardian: "At the end of the day he (Ecclestone) only has a guaranteed income stream for the next 2 years. He has no new Concorde agreement, nine of the teams are against him and he only has an outline heads of agreement with Ferrari, not a firm contract."
Question is, what happens next?