Money from television rights will take over from cigarette sponsorship in the next two to three years as the main funding stream for Formula One, no matter what happens as a result of the current row in Britain.

This is the conclusion of the MBA thesis of UCD Smurfit School scholar Russell Murphy, due to be published next month.

When Eddie Jordan started Formula One in 1991, his income from the FIA's TV fund was less than $2million. Last year each team netted $13m and, with Digital TV on the way this funding stream is set to skyrocket.

By 2000, it is expected that five per cent of Formula One's television audience of 400 million will opt for pay-per-view Digital TV. This will mean that a total of $1.7 billion will be generated over the season. Even if the teams only see 25 per cent of this income, it will dwarf tobacco sponsorship which runs at a steady $200m a year in total.