The news that Formula One's team bosses are to meet with the major car manufacturers to hammer out the structure of a rival series to F1, to be launched in 2008, has upped the ante in the war between the major manufacturers and current F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.
It's another sign that Ecclestone's grip on the sport may be loosening.
On Monday George Taylor, commercial head of the GPWC, the body representing the major manufacturers (Ferrari, Renault, Mercedes and BMW), said that plans were proceeding apace, with team representatives to meet some time before this season's opening Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 6th. "The GPWC racing series is not a dream, it's a reality. It has already started", he said.
The GPWC also revealed that it held discussions with key circuits on the F1 calendar - including Hockenheim, the Nürburgring, Magny Cours and Monza - which could represent a major blow to F1's current power structure.
Ecclestone has spent much of the past six months shuttling from venue to venue copperfastening multi-million dollar, multi-year deals. That includes several new and potential venues including Turkey and Mexico, which will host its first Grand Prix in nearly 20 years in 2006.
However, F1 in its current guise is actively moving away from its core European fan base in favour of the Far East, where tobacco sponsorship is still permitted, unlike Europe where such deals must end next year.
That may play into GPWC hands - it may seek to cut deals with circuits which have been threatened by Ecclestone's concentration on new territories.
Imola in Italy, the two German circuits of the Nürburgring and Hockenheim, Magny Cours and Britain's Silverstone have all been threatened with removal from the calendar by Ecclestone and the GPWC may appear an attractive option for circuits which feel much pressure and heavy financial burden under current race deals.
Ecclestone too is under pressure to relax his grip on the sport after a court ruling last month found in favour of three shareholder banks in a boardroom dispute with far-reaching implications.
The F1 supremo was bullish after a London court ruled in favour of giving Bayerische Landesbank, JP Morgan and Lehman Brothers banks a greater say in how the sport is run, but those companies will almost certainly do all they can to court the support of the major motor maufacturers given that a split by GPWC could render their current F1 investments almost worthless.
The carmakers too have tempted team bosses with a four-fold increase in income if they agree to abandon Ecclestone.
A report in Britain's Times newspaper on Monday said the GPWC planned to promise the teams 80 per cent of the sport's revenues, quadrupling their current combined share of about $190 million a year, as well as greater control of the business. Such largesse will be difficult to turn down.
"We are not here to criticise Bernie Ecclestone because he has done an unbelievable job with Formula One, but it doesn't work as well as it could or should," said a GPWC spokesman. "A lot of things are right, but there are increasingly a lot of things that are not right. We have to move quickly because, realistically, things need to be in place during 2005 if we are to be ready in time."
In the wake of the recent court case, a smiling Ecclestone said that nothing had changed in F1.
A month on and change appears to be everywhere. By the time Ecclestone heads to Australia for the opening round of his series he could be witnessing the start of a slow fade of his empire.