A1GP Chairman: F1 is copying all my ideas

Keeping motorsport relevant, affordable and interesting is a tricky balancing act. In the U.S. NASCAR has done an admirable job of luring and keeping millions of rabid fans, but times are tougher for the road-racing leagues found elsewhere in the world. Formula 1 in particular is searching for new ways to stay at the forefront of the sport.

The young A1GP series, the self-styled World Cup of Motorsport, is blazing new trails in some respects, one of the only series to run in the northern hemisphere's off season. The Ferrari-powered single-engine-make, limited-cost series allows teams to compete on a national basis, building in low costs and clear fan bases.

Formula 1 hasn't been slow to take notice of the younger series' success, either - or at least so says Tony Teixeira, the Chairman of A1GP. Even though A1GP has proved highly successful in a difficult business, it's still struggling to meet costs and eventually reach profitability. Formula 1's recent struggles with the loss of the Super Aguri and Honda F1 teams and complaints over the costliness of competition have put it in search of solutions to similar problems despite its historic pedigree.

Teixeira referenced Ecclestone's imitation when he joked to Yahoo News, "Instead of copying all the ideas from A1GP, just buy me out!" The ideas Teixeira specifically had in mind were the one-engine make (a controversial proposal for next-generation F1 rules) and nationally-based teams, such as the recently founded Force India.

Whether those claims and accusations are justified, it's evidence of the level of frustration and effort at the upper levels of the global road racing series.