Is a breakaway going to happen?

Depends who you ask. Flavio Briatore, the team principal of Renault, who is regarded as one of the leading radicals in the Formula One Teams Association (Fota), is adamant that it will take place and that the time for negotiation with the FIA has passed. If you speak to those close to Max Mosley, the president of the FIA, they are equally adamant that it will not happen. The row over budget capping has turned into a cold war and the teams are merely turning up the heat in an attempt to buy time, they say.

How would a split work?

This is where it gets complicated. The FIA owns the Formula One World Championship. The commercial rights to the sport have been sold by the FIA to Bernie Ecclestone for 100 years. If the teams do walk away, Ecclestone will sue those with whom he has contracts, including Ferrari. Ecclestone also has contracts with circuits, sponsors and television companies which cover Formula One. It is not clear what will happen to those contracts should Formula One continue but without its biggest teams and most famous drivers. The FIA has already got stuck in on the legal side by announcing that it intends to sue Ferrari and Fota.

Are there enough circuits available for a breakaway series?

There are plenty of tracks capable of staging races all over the world that would jump at the chance to play host to a series that aspired to take Formula One’s place. Think of Imola in Italy, Magny-Cours in France, Montreal in Canada, Indianapolis in America, Jerez in Spain, Portimão and Estoril in Portugal and Kyalami in South Africa.

So what would the breakaway look like?

It certainly won’t be called Formula One. It will consist of eight teams — Ferrari, McLaren Mercedes, Toyota, Renault, BMW Sauber, Brawn GP, Red Bull and Toro Rosso — and will feature all the top drivers in the sport, among them Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen (should he still be at Ferrari), Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. The series might also include some new teams that have applied to join Formula One but have not been admitted. Among those are Lola and Prodrive.

And what would the rump Formula One look like?

Well, at present it looks as though it is not going to be up to much. That, of course, is an important element of leverage Fota enjoys over the FIA. All we know at this stage is that it will feature the Williams and Force India teams from the present championship, plus three new teams in Campos Meta F1, Team US F1 and Manor Grand Prix. Driver-wise it is going to be short of world-class talent. The new teams have not announced their drivers.

So what should we expect next from this game of brinkmanship?

Most independent observers still believe it will sort itself out and Formula One will continue next season, as we know it, after a period of intense negotiations over the next few weeks.

And how will that compromise be reached?

It looks like Fota is unbreakable and it will be very difficult for Mosley or Ecclestone to tempt any more teams away from the group, as they have done in similar situations in the past. Concessions will have to come from both sides but, with the FIA and Fota in exposed positions, it’s going to be tricky to get back to the centre ground.

Would this all end if Max Mosley fell on his sword?

Yes, but he is talking tough and he has no plans to leave unfinished the work on budget capping he has started. Mosley is nothing if not a tough cookie. He is also an experienced lawyer.