Bernie will defend Ferrari to stay in Formula One

Bernie Ecclestone has vowed to prevent the brawl between Max Mosley and Luca di Montezemolo turning into all-out war.

After Ferrari President Montezemolo - furious about the FIA President's budget capping - hinted that the famous marque could walk away from F1, Mosley replied by insisting the sport could survive without the Prancing Horse.

The Times newspaper claims some Ferrari figures believe Mosley wants to ‘destroy’ Montezemolo, but Ecclestone insists: "I won't let it happen."

The 78-year-old F1 Chief Executive said: "The trouble with Max is he's not capable, like in the past, of wrapping things up nicely with a pink ribbon and things. He wants to put it in an old cardboard box and tie it with string."

Briton Ecclestone believes the row is equally the fault of Montezemolo.

"The trouble with Luca is that you shouldn't let Max ever be in a position where he can start a debate or an argument. He's reasonably clever and you won't win," he added.

Ecclestone seems happy to play the mediator in negotiations about the budget cap, after the World Motor Sport Council last week set a voluntary figure at £40m.

"It would appear that everyone is in favour of the cap, including Ferrari, if we can get them to agree, which we can," Ecclestone told the newspaper.

"However, there is concern over the amount that is referred to in the cap for some of the teams and also the two-tier system. So these are probably not monumental things to sort out," he added.

The Times suggests that one outcome could be an increase in the cap to 60m, with a steady reduction to 40m by 2012.