The battle for control of Formula One racing has moved into a London court room.

Three banks that own 75 per cent of F1's commercial rights went to the High Court in a case that could challenge longtime F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone's hold on the sport.

Bayerische Landesbank, Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan Chase own three-quarters of the shares in Ecclestone's holding company, SLEC Holdings. SLEC owns the myriad of companies that run F1.

A victory by the banks could end Ecclestone's control over a sport he has run for 25 years, amassing a fortune estimated at $US3.7 billion ($A4.72 billion).

Despite being majority shareholders, the banks don't have a majority on any of the key company boards.

They are suing the minority shareholder, Bambino Trust. Bambino beneficiaries are members of Ecclestone's family, including his wife, Slavica.

The banks' lawyer, Elizabeth Jones, argued in court that Bambino "had engineered control of the operating companies within the (Formula One) group through various corporate steps" taken two years ago.

The banks claim two appointments Bambino made to F1's governing board are "invalid" and argue that they should have more power in appointing board members.

Ecclestone and his companies receive more than half the revenues from F1, a source of acrimony between him and the teams. Last year, an agreement to give more revenue to teams fell through.

Four of the sport's car manufacturers - Ferrari, BMW, DaimlerChrysler and Renault - have threatened to take over F1 and run the series in 2008.

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