Damon Hill stirred up a Twitter storm over the weekend when he took aim at Mercedes and Ferrari, suggesting F1 would perhaps be better off without the sport's two main contenders.
Both manufacturers say they could call into question their presence at the pinnacle of motorsport if Formula One's management pursues a vision for the future which may not cater to Ferrari and Mercedes' best interests.
The 1996 world champion encouraged their departure from Grand Prix racing, tweeting that the sooner they left the better, stating that "massive industrial complexes are ruining the sport", and adding that "the FIA have lost grip of F1".
Mercedes shot back at Hill, reminding the Brit that he wasn't complaining back when he was winning "with top of the line Renault power", a silly compare to which the former driver responded by putting the record straight, insisting he was racing a Williams, "those disgusting garagiste upstarts, remember?"
The Twitter spat eventually subsided, but speaking later to Autosport, Hill elaborated on his opinion.
"Ferrari and Mercedes are acting in concert to try and create conditions under which they would stay in the sport," said 57-year-old Sky Sports consultant.
"If you would have accused them of working together in the past they would have denied it, but now here they are paired up nicely to try and get conditions under which they would continue to stay at the front of the pack.
"My argument is that it's a sport that should be trying to create at least the opportunity for all of the competitors to have a reasonable chance of competing.
"That's always been a difficult problem for our sport, because it rewards the dominant disproportionately."
Ultimately, Hill believes the manufacturers' hardened stance regarding the future is nothing more than political theatrics.
"I just think it's a negotiation tactic," said;
"Would they be prepared to compete in a championship where they wouldn't have such favourable conditions? Where they had conditions that were more equal?
"If they're not prepared to do that, maybe they shouldn't be here."
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