TV deal the only good thing to come out of Monaco for Jordan

Ferrari will receive an annual £3.5 million, half of it from their competitors, because they are the biggest box-office draw in Formula One.

As part of the Concorde agreement, which will govern for the next decade the multi-billion-dollar income from television coverage of the world championship, each of the other teams will put £250,000 annually into the Italian team's pot. This will then be matched by Bernie Ecclestone's Formula One Administration organisation.

These payments will supplement Ferrari's television income of £20 million as last season's runners-up, on a scale which ranges from £23 million annually for the world champion constructor, currently Williams, down to £9.3 million for the smallest teams, Minardi and Tyrrell.

The Concorde agreement was finally signed at the weekend's Monaco Grand Prix after two years of debate and threats of legal action.

For Ecclestone, whose television operating arm owns the coverage rights for the championship, it clears one hurdle separating him from a £1.5 billion stock exchange flotation of his business empire. But he has still to convince the EU's competition commissioner, Karel van Miert, that his television interests do not amount to an unacceptable monopoly under EU law.

There is another fly in the commercial ointment: the Swiss-based Sauber team have declined to sign the agreement. Peter Sauber's ambitious business partner, Fritz Kaiser, who sees himself as a potential challenger to Ecclestone as the head of F1, has argued that as the Swiss team are based outside the EU he has the right to race in F1 independent of the agreement.

Meanwhile, for the stumbling Jordan-Honda team, signing the agreement at least guarantees financial security as they struggle to regroup after a disastrous Monaco GP which saw Damon Hill locked in a ferocious row with the team owner Eddie Jordan over the uncompetitiveness of his car.

Jordan later responded with a robust statement absolving Hill and Ralf Schumacher, effectively putting the blame on his own design department under its technical director, Gary Anderson.

Hill finished two laps behind Mika Hakkinen's victorious McLaren and has said that the team have no chance of winning races this year with the current car. The problems will be addressed at a crisis meeting of the team management this week.

"It was a pretty sorry end to a very, very difficult weekend," said Jordan. "The circuit here is unique, but there are really no excuses for our performance.

"I think we will have to go through some pain before things get any better. I cannot fault the drivers, I have no question mark over them."