Team bosses are not enthusiastic about moves to install a standard-specification engine formula by 2010.

Cost-cutting is a buzzword in the F1 paddock at present, particularly as the world faces a deepening financial crisis.

But the heads of some manufacturer-based teams are concerned that standardising engines goes against the very foundations of the sport.

Toyota's John Howett said "one of the core interests is at least having some differentiation in the power unit".

"I think most of us are not happy at all with the idea of a standard engine," Honda CEO Nick Fry agreed, adding that the Japanese marque is "the largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines in the world; it's the core of the company".

BMW's Mario Theissen offered "total support" for the views of his colleagues.

Howett suspects that the unified front presented by F1 powerbrokers Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone on standard engines is a "negotiating stance".

"There is, I think, an important facet in maintaining formula one as the pinnacle of motorsport and how to achieve that will be the balance," he said.