Formula One teams have been offered the prospect of collectively receiving more than €330m (£228m) a year - almost double their share of F1's revenues last year - by joining a rival championship being set up by the big carmakers involved in the sport.

The earnings forecast is set out as part of a Memorandum of Understanding signed by all 10 current teams at a meeting in Munich called by Grand Prix World Championship (GPWC), the company set up by DaimlerChrysler, BMW, Renault, Ford and Fiat to organise the rival championship.

But the memorandum's promise that GPWC would be transparent in its dealings with the teams - an issue Bernie Ecclestone has been criticised over - has run into immediate problems, with the disclosure that GPWC has offered Ferrari a one-off advance payment of $50m (£31.6m) to join the championship.

The Memorandum makes no mention of the payment. News of it leaked out at the San Marino GP last weekend after informal discussions between GPWC's and Ferrari's lawyers.

All the teams accept that Ferrari is unique, in that its participation is vital for any series claiming to be a world championship. As such, the Memorandum provides for Ferrari to receive an extra payment of 4 per cent of total revenues a year - but the $50m is additional.

While it was clear yesterday that the disclosure has shaken independent teams' confidence in GPWC - it was described as "a real shot in the foot" by one team principal - most appeared to regard it as a hiccup in progress towards turning the championship into reality.

This is despite Ecclestone's insistence that F1 will continue in its current form after 2007, that GPWC would not be able to use Formula One in its title - SLEC bought 100-year rights to F1 several years ago - and murmurings of disapproval of GPWC from the FIA.

[Source: John Griffiths, Financial Times , Apr 25, 2003]

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