Ecclestone threatens to sue breakaway teams

Bernie Ecclestone has threatened with serious legal action against any team that would break out of Formula One and join a breakaway series. The FOM manager claims that teams had their chances and that breaking running contracts will have serious consequences.

"If they do try to set up their own series - and I don't think they will be able to – there are big problems ahead for them," Ecclestone told the Daily Express.

"Apart from my contracts with teams, if somebody went to any of our contracted people, companies, television contractors, we would view it very seriously. That would be inducement to breach contracts and I don't do that myself, so I won't stand back and let it happen. Any action could run to hundreds of millions of pounds, who knows how much?"

Although it remains uncertain if it will come to that, FOTA still considers it as a valid option if an agreement cannot be reached within Formula One itself.

"I'm not sure that the boards of teams such as Toyota and BMW, who are already looking to cut costs in F1, would sympathise and bankroll their teams going off to a series which would not be the FIA F1 championship," he said. "It costs a lot of money to set up a series.

"Right now, we supply the venues at no cost to the teams, they roll up with all their sponsors' names and money and race in front of a huge television audience which I supply through the contracts we win.

"That money flows back to the teams and they spend it. It would be different when they have to provide all the venues, hire their own race people, find their own television companies – and we have the best – and promote it."

Ecclestone concluded that all teams had their chances earlier on but decided against it, hinting that the have found the problems which they steered at themselves.

"The teams had a chance to sign the 1998 Concorde Agreement which would have protected them from Max's technical changes, but they said no."