MOTOR SPORT:FORMULA ONE teams were left baffled yesterday by Bernie Ecclestone's claim that his controversial gold, silver and bronze medal system to decide the destiny of the Formula One drivers' world championship will be ratified at next month's meeting of the FIA's world motorsport council.

"It's going to happen. All the teams are happy," said Ecclestone, who is the Formula One commercial rights holder.

"The whole reason for this was that I was fed up with people talking about no overtaking. The reason there's no overtaking is nothing to do with the circuit or the people involved, it's to do with the drivers not needing to overtake. If you are in the lead and I'm second, I'm not going to take a chance and risk falling off the road or doing something silly to get two more points. If I need to do it to win a gold medal, because the most medals win the world championship, then I'm going to do that. I will overtake you."

Although none of the team principals would be drawn on what could develop into a controversial debate, one team insider rejected Ecclestone's suggestions completely. "At the present time the championship points are awarded down to seventh place," he said. "Far from encouraging overtaking, having gold, silver and bronze medals for the top-three finishers would act as a major disincentive to those outside the top four to attempt any overtaking manoeuvres at all.

"What would be the point of anybody trying to pass if there was no prospect of gaining extra points for the championship? Anyway, the whole concept has certainly not been agreed by all the teams."

It was also pointed out that an enormous amount of work has already been carried out in framing the new 2009 Formula One technical regulations to produce an aerodynamic package which would contribute to the next generation of Formula One cars having more chance of overtaking than their predecessors, and thereby eliminating any need for an overhaul of the competition's points system.