APRIL 19, 2003

Ecclestone's final offer

Bernie Ecclestone has told the Formula 1 teams that he is not going to improve on his offer to them and that they should take what is on the table.

"It is an offer they should not refuse," he told The Guardian newspaper. "This would be more than they had ever dreamed of."

But teams say that Ecclestone's offer is only attractive in that it gives them a big bonus up front but would mean that they have to commit to Ecclestone for a long period of time with little extra money on offer.

"The problem," said one team boss, "is that there is just enough money available because the banks still want to get back the money they invested and will not accept that times have changed and that is not possible. Until they understand that I do not see how there can be any progress."

Everyone seems to agree that a split would be disastrous for the sport.