In a move that has nothing at all to do with their terrible performance so far this season, BMW Sauber have joined the massed ranks of teams threatening to pull out of the sport next year should the rules not be to their liking.
Mario Theissen, the boss of the BMW Sauber effort, told the BBC that the team's involvement in the sport from 2010 onwards depended completely on the outcome of the current round of talks between the teams and the FIA.
"If the framework and the conditions change greatly that would be a reason for us to review the project," he noted while twirling his moustache in a confusing manner.
The deadline for entries into the 2010 World Championship is on Friday, and as things stand, Ferrari, Toyota, Renault and the two Red Bull-owned teams have said they would not be submitting their own entries if there was no change to the voluntary budget cap rules.
The teams met again on Saturday in Monaco, and had a lengthy meeting with FIA president Max Mosley on Friday, but there still seems to be no sign of a break in the deadlock between the two sides.
"It was positive to have Friday's meeting and to discuss the issues, but we have not arrived at a decision," Theissen warned, still fiddling with his moustache.
BMW's itchy feet have conveniently come on the same weekend as the team's desperate 2009 form reached new lows. Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld were both eliminated in the first part of Saturday's qualifying session, the worst grid performance from the team since they entered F1 as a standalone team in 2006.
However, Theissen denied that it was the team's desultory performances this year that has caused BMW to re-evaluate their feted "five year plan" to reach F1's summit.
Leaving his moustache alone for a bit, Theissen said that: "We are analysing the reasons behind this [qualifying] but I don't have an explanation yet. However, this is a single event and has nothing to do with long-term strategy."
The BMW Sauber team won their first race last year, and Robert Kubica remained an outsider for the title until the closing stages of the season. This year, the plan was to challenge for the title, but that hope now looks laughably wide of the mark.
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