The Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) has announced its intention to form a breakaway series in 2010.

Before the FIA descided to delay the publication of the entry list, the teams had until tonight to sign up unconditionally for next year's Max Mosley-led championship. So far only Williams, Force India and new entrants Campos, US F1 and Manor have put themselves forward for next year.

The other eight teams in this year's championship - Ferrari, McLaren, Brawn GP, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso - issued a statement through FOTA declaring that a compromise had not been reached with the FIA.

"The FIA and the commercial rights holder have campaigned to divide FOTA," the statement read.

"The wishes of the majority of the teams are ignored. Furthermore, tens of millions of dollars have been withheld from many teams by the commercial rights holder, going back as far as 2006. Despite this and the uncompromising environment, FOTA has genuinely sought compromise.

“It has become clear however, that the teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 World Championship.”

If the teams follow through with their latest threat, the most serious to date, it could spell the end for Formula One. Few pundits believe the sport could currently sustain two rival series. The FIA is certainly aware of the gravity of the situation. The governing body's response to the FOTA statement took under 24 hours in coming and contained an unmitigated threat to hammer the teams in court.

"The actions of Fota as a whole, and Ferrari in particular, amount to serious violations of law including wilful interference with contractual relations, direct breaches of Ferrari's legal obligations and a grave violation of competition law, " the FIA statement read.

"Preparations for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship continue but publication of the final 2010 entry list will be put on hold while the FIA asserts its legal rights."

A study released in the latest issue of SportsPro magazine revealed Ferrari to be more valuable than the Formula One championship itself.

In the magazine's '200 Most Valuable Sports Properties' special report, published this month, Scuderia Ferrari is valued at US$1.55 billion, ahead of Formula One at US$1.45 billion.

The McLaren Mercedes team was third in the Formula One rankings, valued at US$580 million. Other teams ranked as being members of the world’s most valuable sports properties were BMW Sauber (US$240 million), RenualtF1 (US$220 million) and Toyota Motorsport (US$190 million).

Two actual races were included in the list. The Monaco Grand Prix as an individual event was valued at US$520 million. The Singapore Grand prix was the only other race valuable enough to be included at US$261 million, reflecting its success as Formula One’s first night race and its immediate premier status in Asia.