http://www.theage.com.au/news/Motors...?oneclick=true

McLaren threatens F1 pull-out
By Alan Henry
February 20, 2005

Mclaren could pull out of formula one in 2008 if the regime under Bernie Ecclestone does not ensure the teams get a bigger share of the commercial rights purse and more transparency in the sport's business dealings.

McLaren's chairman Ron Dennis made it clear that it had an ongoing commitment to the motor racing business and would consider competing in other categories unless formula one changed.

"We want to be in a position whereby we do not have to take part in formula one from 2008," he said. "We want to have the choice to take McLaren out of formula one."

Dennis' bold assertion will intensify pressure on Ecclestone, the formula one commercial rights holder, to come to the negotiating table with the other nine teams. Ferrari has already signed its own deal with Ecclestone guaranteeing a one-off $100 million ($126 million) signing fee to agree to stay loyal to the official FIA championship to 2012.

The McLaren position signals a hardening of attitudes towards Ecclestone and the tacit approval to his Ferrari deal that was signalled last week by the FIA president Max Mosley. Up to now it had been assumed Ferrari's influence within the sport would guarantee victory in this political battle to whoever gained its support.

That assumption now seems less certain. At a meeting at Cliveden, England, on Wednesday, the other nine teams were highly impressed by a presentation given by an agency commissioned on behalf of GPWC, the federation of car makers, proposing a separate new world championship from the start of 2008.

Dennis described the presentation on behalf of BMW, Daimler Chrysler, Renault, Toyota and Honda as "most credible" but the McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh went further: "Any rational person would have had to find overwhelmingly in favour of their standpoint," he said after it became clear the car makers were proposing the teams share up to 80 per cent of the US$800 million ($1.01 billion) annual commercial rights income rather than the 50 per cent proposed by Ecclestone.

Meanwhile, Austrian Christian Klien has joined David Coulthard in the Red Bull formula one team.
Maybe F1 will collapse on itself and they'll rebuild something that isn't a parade.