BBC ready to pay £175m for F1

The BBC are bidding to snatch Formula One back from ITV.

After failing to win Champions League soccer, the BBC are determined to recapture a sport desperate to regain its appeal after a season of controversy and Ferrari domination. Executives hope a bid of up to £175million will be enough to seal the return of F1 after eight years.

Talks are still on the starting grid but the BBC will do all in their power to clinch what insiders say will be a three-year deal from 2005. Sources say ITV know about the BBC's interest and are nervous as finances are tight following the collapse of ITV Digital.

In 1997, ITV won the rights for five years at a cost of £70m - 10 times more than the BBC had paid previously. The BBC were not offered a chance to beat it by F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone and were bitterly disappointed.

However, the sport has had a chequered time on ITV, who followed their initial contract with a further three-year deal. Ratings have been in decline since the move. ITV poached F1 at the height of its popularity, when Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher's rivalry was pulling in more than 6million viewers.

Critics say that Schumacher's dominance since then is mostly to blame for the drop in interest, with viewing figures now around 2m. Ecclestone wants ratings to climb and the BBC are offering massive promotion for the sport if they win.

Ecclestone also wants to drive viewers to his interactive, digital pay-per-view grand prix service that allows viewers a choice of live feeds and access behind the scenes. It has around 9,000 subscribers but needs 20,000 to break even. BBC bosses were despondent at being pipped for Champions League games.

After losing Test cricket and Premiership highlights, the sports department - under sports fan director-general Greg Dyke - want to win back as many high-profile events as they can afford.