I’m not normally all that interested in Formula 1 car racing, but the announcement yesterday that 8 of the top teams intend to go off and start their own racing championship has attracted my interest.

The issue? A budget cap. In the interest of trying to limit a financial ‘arms race’ F1 wants to set a budget cap of £40 million. That’s certainly an interesting competition in its own right – the test will become how far you can stretch that £40 million. The problem is that 8 of the teams aren’t interested in these new rules. They’re willing to take their chances on an uncapped budget, even if that means their opponents could theoretically spend double.

See, F1, if it’s nothing else, is supposed to be the biggest, fastest and most advanced racing sport in the world. That’s why the budget cap is such a problem: A budget cap immediately opens up the prospect that there could be a better championship somewhere else, one where the only limit is imagination, ingenuity and skill.

The new league will have unlimited budgets and teams like Ferrari, McClaren, Brawn GP. They’ll be able to set their own rules about what their new cars are to be like. They get to keep their drivers, and so Big Name teams and Big Name drivers together with Faster, Better Cars means this new league will end up being the Premiership of Motor Racing, while F1 will suffer the same fate as the old First Division. That 40 million budget cap is going to look excessive once the haemorrhage of sponsorship and television rights begins.

As I write there’s a goon over at BSkyB looking in their Vault Of Infinite Money planning to secure the rights to this new championship.

F1 are confident they can back-fill the teams that are leaving, especially with the budget cap. We may well see our first our Skoda Formula 1 car. Can’t wait.  It seems that barring a miracle this is the end of F1 as the pinnacle of motor sports, and for what? Socialist Versus Capitalist racing? I know which one I’d put my money into.

UPDATE: Caron Lindsay, the Lib Dem’s resident F1 expert, has this much more detailed and informed analysis of what’s going on