Looks like Bernie Ecclestone's magic formula has lost its power. The decision by eight top teams to form a rival championship to Formula One is a serious threat to the elite racing circuit. Mr Ecclestone, F1's supremo, and Max Mosley, president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, auto racing's governing body, have underestimated the degree to which big box-office teams such as Ferrari and McLaren are willing to present a united front against budget caps designed to stop the “financial arms race” threatening the sport's business model.

Disagreement over the pace and scale of cost cuts is only part of the picture. The dissidents' desire to establish a new racing league with “transparent governance” reflects years of resentment at F1 bosses' iron grip on the sport. The rebels are betting that if they abandon F1, a significant part of the sport's 600m-strong global audience – and a good portion of its advertisers – will follow. There is precedent for this: the UK's Premier League became the most lucrative football league in the world after its amicable split from the Football League in 1992. But Ferrari and its fellow mutineers should not underestimate the difficulty of launching a second racing championship.

Even if they succeed in breaking away – Mr Mosley has promised a legal challenge – the teams' traditional squabbling could well resume once deprived of a common enemy.