Brown: If F1 is not fair and cost effective we could leave

While the three

grandee teams protect their interests with the ferocity of bulldogs, the former grandee

McLaren is a legacy outfit which has fallen on hard times and where they are now, a Renault customer team, the prospect of wins are nil and even podiums are a pipe-dream.

The sport is divided into two clear cut divisions with Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull in the top tier, while the seven other teams - Renault, McLaren, Williams, Toro Rosso, Haas, Alfa Romeo and Racing Point - making up the 'second division' - the gap between the 'haves and the have nots' is around 1.5 seconds per lap (or more) in qualy to about one second in race trim.

In racing terms that is a huge margin which is virtually impossible to eradicate, with the current rules in place the big teams get bigger while the rest struggle to survive on the crumbs and

Thus no surprise team chief Zak Brown seeks a new dispensation for his team from the powers that be when he told the Guardian, “For McLaren, it has to tick two boxes: to be financially viable and to be able to fight fairly and competitively."

"If it wasn’t that, we would seriously have to consider our position in F1. That’s not a position we want to be in. People throw it out there as a negotiating tactic but this has to be a fiscally responsible, competitive racing team and, if we feel the new rules don’t put us in that situation, we would have to review our participation in F1.”

“Revenue distribution should be more balanced, should be performance oriented. To a lesser degree than today, there should be recognition for your history."

"We all agree Ferrari is the biggest name and should be remunerated as such but not at the level that it is and you also should not be able to put that money into the racing,” argued Brown.

With dominant power units and budgets north of half a billion dollars, there is a growing concern that Ferrari and Mercedes are colluding to keep the playing field tilted towards them at the expense of Formula 1 as a whole.

Hence, what is tabled in London on Tuesday to the sport's stakeholders will provide a glimpse into how far Liberty Media and the FIA will go the pacify the Big Three while attempting to address the numerous issues that the rest of the grid have. A tough ask.

Last week in Melbourne, during a joint press conference with Carey, Todt revealed, "We should be ready with the global package. On the commercial side, the financial side, which is the responsibility of Formula 1, we have the cost control which is a new initiative which is quite well advanced."

"We have the engine regulations which have been sent to the teams a few days ago. And we have the chassis regulations and we have the governance."

"So those are all the different chapters which we are working and we should be in a position to have the final package to discuss with the teams on those opportunities on the 26th of March."

Carey also remains optimistic, “I think there’s a general agreement on the direction we’re going with everything. We’ve got 10 teams so we’ve got 10 different views on the details. So that’s part of what thrashing this out is."

“It’s not unique in the world to try to find the right compromises but I think directionally we’re excited about the opportunity to really provide a platform the sport can really from 2021 take off," added the F1 supremo.