In the light of the damage being inflicted to the image of Formula One by Max Mosley’s refusal to step aside as president of the FIA, Bernie Ecclestone was exploring the possibility last night of setting up a new championship outside the auspices of the governing body of world motor sport.

This move to outflank Mosley, who has ignored widespread calls to resign in the wake of lurid revelations about his private life, was being discussed at a crisis meeting of Formula One team principals chaired by Ecclestone at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit in Montreal, where the Canadian Grand Prix is being staged tomorrow.

Ecclestone, the commercial rights-holder and the most powerful man in Formula One, has repeatedly asked Mosley to stand aside, but, after the FIA’s endorsement of its president at an extraordinary general meeting in Paris on Tuesday, he is thought to have come to the conclusion that nothing is going to shift Mosley and so Formula One itself must move.

Walking away from the FIA in protest would be an historic development in a sport in which such threats by teams in the past have come to nothing. The difference this time is that Ecclestone himself is leading the plotters. It reflects his mounting anger with Mosley and the FIA’s failure to get rid of him, as well as the increasing pressure he is under from sponsors to do something about the situation.

Mosley is a litigious individual who is already pursuing legal action against the News of the World, which exposed his predilection for sadomasochistic sex with prostitutes. It is not clear whether, as head of the FIA, he could now take legal action to stop Formula One leaving the fold.

If it did, the championship would have to be renamed and set up under a new organisation. However, one senior team source in Montreal suggested that there is nothing to stop Formula One moving en masse to a new structure. “The manufacturers supply the cars and the drivers and the sponsors, Bernie has the contracts with the circuits and the TV companies,” the source explained. “Max is just the referee – the FIA blows the whistle.”

Another informed source in a Formula One paddock yet again bristling with intrigue, used the language of the Wild West to explain the background to the latest developments. “You’ve got to ask if it’s come down to this, ‘Is this town big enough for the both of us?’ ” he said in reference to Mosley and Ecclestone.

Since the Mosley scandal erupted three months ago, there have been moves by Ecclestone to bring the teams together as one to oppose the president. But several, notably Toro Rosso and Williams, proved unwilling to play along. This time, however, there seems to be a greater determination among them to act as one, an indication of how frustrated the teams have become at what one team principal derided as the “ridiculous” actions of the FIA in backing its president.

Sources close to Ecclestone were saying that Williams are now likely to cooperate and Ferrari, who have always been close to Mosley and have so far been playing a cautious hand, are now regarded as being “on board” with him.

The difficulty Ecclestone and the teams have had until now is that they have not been able to exert any leverage against Mosley, who has resisted all attempts at compromise solutions, such as a proposal that he step down a year early in November. Some may interpret the latest move as little more than an empty threat to try to force Mosley’s hand, but The Times understands that some teams are prepared to go ahead with a new championship, whether Mosley responds or not.

The latest developments mark the nadir in relations between Ecclestone and Mosley, who have worked together for years as friends and associates, during which time, as commercial rights-holder and rule-maker, they have built Formula One into a hugely successful sport and business. That Ecclestone is now prepared to leave his friend out in the cold speaks volumes about the state of their relationship and Ecclestone’s belief that Mosley will try to stay as FIA president, not just until the end of his present mandate in October next year, but even longer.