The leading Formula One teams are planning to meet in Stuttgart next weekend to discuss the future direction of the sport.
Reports have been circulating for the last month that News Corporation is showing an interest in launching a bid for the commercial rights of Formula One, and on Tuesday it emerged it was possibly going to partner with Exor, an investment firm controlled by the Agnelli family who run the car giant Fiat which in turn owns Ferrari.
The Daily Telegraph said representatives of Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull were going to sit down to talk about the new Concorde Agreement, technical changes and also the takeover speculation.
Ferrari's involvement with the News Corporation proposals, however indirect, are also likely to come under scrutiny, and the other teams are unlikely to sit back and allow their rival to make such a move without looking at allying themselves to the takeover consortium.
Officially, Ferrari is distancing itself from any speculation. "We have no comment to make, partly because we are not directly involved at the moment," said a spokesman. "All we can do is repeat what has already been said so often in the past - Ferrari stresses the importance of ensuring the long term stability and development of Formula One."
Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren's team principal and the chairman of the Formula One Teams' Association, told Sky News: "I think whoever owns the sport in the future, be that the current owners or new owners, it's just important that the teams are more cohesive than they have ever been."
Some believe the meeting of the four teams is aimed at bringing pressure to bear on Bernie Ecclestone at the time of the renegotiation of the Concorde Agreement, and it would not be the first time they flexed their collective muscles to get a better deal.
Ferrari has recently been highly critical of the current state of F1, such as the emphasis on aerodynamic development. "If Formula One is interesting in the future for manufacturers we need to ensure that all the elements of motor racing are there in equal measure," said team boss Stefano Domenicali.
He also said F1 should not "change the rules all the time" while ensuring that there are races "in all the important markets".
Autosprint magazine said the teams are indeed setting out plans for simple and stable rules post 2012, the revival of key European venues, reduced ticket prices and the modernising of media platforms for the younger audience.
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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