Ecclestone to offer teams $3 billion
In addition, each team will be offered a signing-on fee of more than $35m plus a further $7m to $9m currently held in an escrow account as a reflection of Ecclestone's view that they should have been given more for the 2004 season.
Currently the teams with the least points at the end of each season receive about $15m. That rises to about $50m for the winner of the Constructors Championship – which goes to the team picking up the most race points over a season. But under the terms of the new Concorde agreement, the most successful team could get more than $100m. The deal will cost Ecclestone about $3bn between 2008 and 2012.
All the teams have been campaigning for a bigger slice of the $900m+ per-year profits generated by F1, the bulk of which currently goes into Ecclestone's own pocket. His improved offer is designed to kill off a rival racing franchise being set up by GPWC – a consortium of F1 manufacturers that includes BMW and Mercedes.
In a highly controversial move last week, Ferrari broke ranks with the other GPWC members and announced that it would sign up to Ecclestone's new Concorde agreement after clinching a $100m signing on fee. Ecclestone believes Ferrari's show of allegiance to his flag will force the other teams to fall into line rather than hold out in the hope of securing a better deal from GPWC.
At Tuesday's meetings the teams will say that they are not happy with what they see as the preferential treatment shown to Ferrari by Ecclestone. Telegraph.co.uk