1997-2005
The Grand Prix World Championship (GPWC), was a proposed alternative world championship to rival Formula One. GPWC has been superseded by the Grand Prix Manufacturers’ Association.
GPWC Holdings consisted of (and GPMA originally consisted of) Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Renault, Honda and Toyota, six of F1's biggest players. The GPWC was created as a tool to assist the companies in bargaining with Bernie Ecclestone for an agreeable extension to the 1997 Concorde Agreement, the contract by whose terms the teams compete in F1.
Though the GPWC created definite plans to start a rival series in 2004, the FIA responded by openly trying to entice the breakaway teams with a one off 40 million dollar (US) incentive for their agreements, however the GPWC future was cast into doubt in mid-January 2005 when Ferrari, FIAT's F1 team, announced it had secretly come to terms with Ecclestone and signed an extension to the Concorde Agreement for a one off payment amounting to 100 million dollars (US). Ecclestone expressed his expectation that the remaining teams would shortly follow suit despite the initial 40 million dollar (US) offer being retracted. However, at around the same time Honda and Toyota showed interest in working together with GPWC.
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