Toyota Motorsport President John Howett has accused FIA President Max Mosley of causing further friction with the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) by labelling F1's rebel teams power-hungry 'loonies'.

FOTA vice-chairman Howett is one of the leading members of the groundbreaking teams' organisation, and a man Mosley has described as being amongst the most 'extreme' when it comes to the desire to form a manufacturer-spearheaded 'breakaway' series free from the FIA's controversial jurisdiction.

As the FIA/FOTA stand-off continues to cast a shadow over the top flight at Silverstone this weekend, Mosley's remarks only served to add further fuel to the fire in stoking the anger of the dissenting teams.

“You spend the whole day agreeing something with Red Bull, Brawn, Ferrari and Toyota,” the 69-year-old told the BBC, “and when they then go back to the others, who are what we call the loonies, they tear it up.

“This is not about greed; this is about power. I'm not sure if they have a leader. The nature of a loony is that they don't have a leader, and you are just all loonies together.”