The Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has suggested that one or two teams may not complete the season as financial constraints take their toll on the sport.
Big and small teams alike have suffered. Williams will lose their main sponsor the Royal Bank of Scotland at the end of the current campaign, Renault have been at the centre of stories suggesting they wanted an advance from Ecclestone on television rights money, while Hispania Racing have announced that Sakon Yamamoto of Japan will replace India’s Karun Chandhok at the Hungarian grand prix as pay drivers are left out for not coming up with sufficient funds. The Guardian
In an apparent reference to Virgin and HRT, Ecclestone said he would not be surprised if “one or two” teams did not make it to the end of this season.
He added: “I think there are a couple of teams in Formula One who really shouldn’t be there. They are a bit out of their depth at the moment.”
Ecclestone insisted F1 could easily survive with just ten teams rather than the 13 proposed for next year.
And he believes they should include Lotus, 2010’s third new squad. The Sun
“All we ever want is 10 teams,” Ecclestone added. “Lotus is a good name. I wouldn’t want to lose them. But in general this year has been a bit of a nuisance because it has cost money to keep these teams in. It has cost a lot of money to pay for them to compete.”
“The bottom line is they haven’t really and truly given us value for being there. If suddenly these teams don’t turn up at races then I don’t think the crowds will get any smaller, or the TV sets will turn off, or the newspapers will stop writing, will they?” Independent
| 
|