Formula One team boss Eddie Jordan has begun a £150 million sterling damages claim against Vodafone.
He is claiming the mobile phone company wrongly pulled out of a three-year deal to sponsor his team's cars, only to back rivals Ferrari.
The legal claim, which takes into account the £100 million Jordan claims Vodafone agreed to pay as well as interest and other losses, will take three weeks to argue.
It centres on four words that Jordan claims were spoken to him on the telephone in 2001 by Vodafone's global branding director, Mr David Haines: "You've got the deal".
Jordan Grand Prix Ltd claim these words sealed the agreement for the three-year sponsorship of their Formula One cars on terms negotiated between the parties in the preceding months, even though no written contract was produced.
"The case in a nutshell raises two questions," Mr Alan Boyle QC said opening the case for Jordan. "One, did David Haines of Vodafone say to Eddie Jordan on March 22, 2001, 'You've got the deal'?
"Two, if so, what was the effect of those words - did they bring into existence a contract for the sponsorship of the Jordan Grand Prix racing team by Vodafone on the terms negotiated and agreed between them prior to that date.
He said that both Jordan and Jordan Grand Prix's commercial director, Mr Ian Phillips, who listened to the call, would give evidence that those words were spoken.
He added that Mr Phillips, a former journalist, had written them down in his notebook, which was in evidence before the court.
Vodafone claims that it merely entered into talks with Jordan, along with rival teams McLaren, Benetton, Ferrari and Toyota, as part of its global branding strategy.
Vodafone announced its deal with Ferrari prior to the Monaco Grand Prix in 2001.