Lunchtime update from Silverstone

There is a lot of activity going on at Silverstone, following the announcement by FOTA that they are commencing preparations for a breakaway series.

No-one on the FOTA side is saying how much preparation has already been done, but I gather that one of the team principals has been on the phone to several tracks which have recently hosted F1 events and are no longer hosting events, like Indianapolis, Montreal, Silverstone.

Ferrari owns Mugello, while Imola is ready to host these cars again after a major refurbishment. The teams seem to feel that the logistics of putting a new series together are not as much of a problem as is being suggested, especially getting the tracks and track operations together. The TV deals would be the tricky bit.

The talk here in the paddock is of the new teams, like Lola, Prodrive who are next on the FIA's waiting list. They are apparently moving towards FOTA, N Technology has withdrawn from FIA list and Prodrive has put some conditions on its participation.

What FOTA is hoping is that the entry list Max Mosley will take to next Wednesday's world council meeting will feature fewer teams than are currently in F1 and three of them (Ferrari, Red Bull and Toro Rosso) will be on the list against their will.

Then a challenge would be launched against Mosley's presidency. FOTA have put themselves in a position where the only way forward with the FIA world championship is if Mosley is not in his current role.

There was a rumour going around that Luca di Montezemolo had been quoted as saying that FOTA is seeking Mosley's removal, but this has been categorically denied by Ferrari.

Mosley is about to release a statement, apparently, after the end of the second practice session.