Ferrari left the group after agreeing an extension to the ruling Concorde Agreement, which is due to expire in 2007.

That move was widely condemned by rival teams, who are pressing ahead with the infrastructure to run a separate championship, giving them more bargaining power in talks with Ecclestone.

Renault team president Patrick Faure used the squad’s launch in Monaco to insist a rival series is still a possibility, although he was keen to play down any rift with Ferrari, world governing body the FIA or Ecclestone.

He said: “The only thing I am sure of is that for the moment nothing is clear on what will happen in 2008.

“So let’s clarify what will happen, what sort of championship it will be, and then we will discuss the participation of Renault, Ferrari or whoever.

“At the moment the other nine teams are united on principal. It is quite courageous to say you can renew the Concorde Agreement with one team. I find that fantastically humorous.

“If necessary we will create our own championship. We can, we have nine teams and one on the other side.”

The GPWC group are forging strategic alliances with Honda and Toyota, who up until recently were keen to steer clear of talk of a breakaway.

But the pair joined up with GPWC members to call for a fairer distribution of income and better leadership last week and Faure insists his organisation can accommodate their Japanese rivals.

He added: “I think probably they want something new to be created and not to join something that is existing. We agree on a lot of principals so we could create something – a company or a club – and they would join it. It’s more a question of form than any really tough things.

“We are discussing with them to create something new, for the five of us to get together to turn our ideas into reality.

“We are very much in line with the Japanese companies. I don’t see a problem.”