Even before Chase Carey and Ross Brawn have revealed their blueprint for the sport's future, as expected, the sabre rattling from the manufacturers and teams has begun.
First to make clear its intentions is Ferrari, with company president Sergio Marchionne insisting that any threat to its income or competitiveness under the new proposals would see the legendary manufacturer reconsider its future in the sport.
As it seeks to realise greater profits from the sport, new owner Liberty Media is seeking to improve the show. Along with more races, more pay-per-view, streaming and various other revenue streams, the sport is looking to improve the racing not only with new engine and technical rules, but introducing a budget cap intended to level the playing field.
However, as it seeks to ensure all the teams receive a similar income from the sport, the prize money for the bigger teams would be reduced while bonuses agreed under Bernie Ecclestone would be scrapped. Earlier this week it was revealed that the big four teams could lose as much as £155m between them.
Naturally, this hasn't gone down well with Marchionne, who has clearly signalled his and his team's intentions before even hearing Liberty's plans.
"Liberty has a couple of good intentions in all of this," he said during a conference call with investors, "one of which is to reduce the cost of execution of the team which I think is good.
"There are a couple of things we don't necessarily agree with," he continued. "The fact that we now appear to be at odds in terms of the strategic development of this thing, and we see the sport in 2021 taking on a different air, is going to force some decisions on the part of Ferrari.
"I understand that Liberty may have taken this into account in coming up with their views, but I think it needs to be absolutely clear that unless we find a set of circumstances the results of which are beneficial to the maintenance of the brand, and the marketplace, and to the strengthening of the unique position for Ferrari, Ferrari will not play.
"And that's got a whole lot of implications," he warned, "apart from the cost relief from the structure of Ferrari, which is not inconsequential. But it does open up a whole lot of alternatives about what Ferrari could be doing with itself going forward and beyond that date.
"I don't want to prejudge any of this," he insisted. "We're walking into this meeting next Tuesday with the best of intentions, we'll see where it takes us."
Over the years Ferrari has threatened to quit the sport on numerous occasions, and was even a leading light in the proposed breakaway series a few years back, before jumping ship and agreeing new terms with Ecclestone.
However, asked how he would feel were he to be the man who took Ferrari out of the sport, Marchionne said: "Like a million bucks, because I'd be working on an alternative strategy to try and replace it. A more rational one, too.
"I'm attending this meeting on strategy because it's important and it matters a lot to this business," he added. "The financial implications of the wrong choice for the moment going forward are pretty significant to Ferrari."
Indeed, Marchionne went so far as to suggest that quitting F1 might actually benefit the company's shareholders.
"It would be totally beneficial to the P&L," he said, referring to profits and losses. "We would be celebrating here until the cows come home."
"F1 has been part of our DNA since the day we were born," he admitted. "It's not as though we can define ourselves differently. But if we change the sandbox to the point where it becomes an unrecognisable sandbox, I don't want to play any more. I don't want to play NASCAR globally, I just don't."
Like its rivals, Ferrari is committed to the sport until the end of the 2020 season when the current Concorde Agreement comes to an end. Indeed, 2020 also sees Ferrari's controversial right of veto come to an end.
In the months and years leading up to then, Ferrari won't be the only team to make such a threat, though it remains to be seen who might be first to execute it.
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