Ex-Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is stirring the pot after revealing discussions about a possible breakaway series.
On a critical day regarding the 2021 regulations, as Liberty Media unveil a full proposal to teams in London, the 88-year-old claims Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff and Racing Point owner Lawrence Stroll met him last month in Switzerland.
Also present was former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo but though the idea of a new racing category was apparently brought up, Ecclestone doubts it would ever get off the ground.
“I don’t think it would ever happen,” he told RaceFans. “I can’t see they’d get everyone to agree. They’d need to get all the promoters to agree, everyone to agree.
“The trouble with all these things are people sit around and talk and talk and talk. But when it comes to pulling the trigger there’s a big list of missing people.”
In response to the report, Racing Point said: “There was a meeting of old friends for dinner in Gstaad. These suggestions of a breakaway series are nonsense.”
Also Read:
- Haas hopeful new 2021 proposals lead to progress in talks
- Liberty finding F1 much harder to operate than expected, says Red Bull boss
- Mercedes not opposed to F1 budget cap if regulations are ‘implementable’
Still, even the notion that two teams might consider the possibility would be a message to Liberty, who have riled the top teams by wanting to impose a budget cap and other financial changes.
The problem is McLaren and Renault have also recently pinned their future’s in F1 to the sport’s bosses introducing such measures.
Ahead of the meeting on Tuesday though, CEO Chase Carey was upbeat.
“We’re excited and we think we can do a lot and make the sport a much more exciting sport for fans, and a much better sport for everyone who’s in it,” he told Sky Sports.
“I think we have a lot of support from the teams. Obviously, when you get into the details, you’ve got 10 teams so you’ve got 10 different views on the details.
“But I think there’s great support for the direction and the vision that we have for the sport.”