On January 19, 2005, news emerged that Ferrari and Bernie Ecclestone, the then-boss of F1, had struck a deal.
As a result, Ferrari vowed to continue driving in the series through to at least 2012 as a reported one-time sum of $100 million was sent through to keep the Italian squad on board.
While F1 in its current set-up is in an undeniably healthy place, it was a much different scenario 20 years ago as it was far from certain that the sport would actually stay in existence.
The GPWC (Grand Prix World Championship) was set up by teams such as BMW and Renault, with the idea being to organise an alternative championship that could compete with or replace F1.
Substantial steps were taken to make that happen, and the group made an offer to Ferrari to join as well.
But on January 19, the deal that was struck prevented Ferrari from splitting. It was a hard sell for the series and only increased Ferrari's power in F1. In any case, the Italian racing stable was and is the only team that has always been active in the premier class of motorsport.
"This is not just about money," said a Ferrari spokesman at the time. "This is about securing Ferrari's future in F1 without the team being a drain on the resources of the road car company.
"As far as GPWC [the alliance of car makers proposing to break away] is concerned, it has served its function by securing a better deal for the team as well as opening the door for the other teams to do similar deals with Ecclestone."
What was not disclosed was that the teams would not receive the same financial compensation as Ferrari.
In the end, the breakaway group emerged as an adversary to F1, even to the point of presenting a racing calendar.
The plans did not go through, however, and an agreement was reached with the FIA to remain active in F1.
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