"I'd rather see Ferrari with three cars, or any of the other top teams with three cars than having teams that are struggling," says Bernie
Saturday 20 September 2014 08:11, UK
F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed that some teams could run three cars next year if the grid is restricted to just eight outfits.
Speculation has flourished in recent weeks that F1’s sporting structure could be subject to a seismic overhaul for next season with at least four current teams - Marussia, Caterham, Lotus and Sauber - known to have grievous financial concerns.
“This is the last year of F1 as we know it. In 2015 eight teams will contest the championship, with several teams entering three cars," Adam Parr, the former chairman of Williams, announced on Twitter after the Italian GP.
While that scenario remains purely theoretical at this stage, Ecclestone has acknowledged that the possibility of such a drastic revision of the sport's composition has already been considered.
"We have a regulation that says if we lose three teams the other teams will run three cars," Ecclestone confirmed to Sky Sports News HQ ahead of this weekend's Singapore GP.
Ecclestone himself has made no secret of his preference for a grid consisting of “top teams with three cars [rather] than having teams that are struggling".
Speaking to The Guardian, Ecclestone confirmed: “I think we should do it anyway. I would rather see Ferrari with three cars, or any of the other top teams with three cars than having teams that are struggling.”
Despite finishing fourth in last year's Constructors' Championship, Lotus’ financial woes have become uncomfortably pronounced in recent times, with star driver Kimi Raikkonen abandoning the team after announcing they hadn’t paid his salary, while paddock insiders have claimed throughout the current campaign that Sauber’s plight has also become critical. However, Team Principal Monisha Kaltenborn says they will be on the grid in 2015.
“We are having the worst season in the history of our team in Formula 1, yet at the same time we are organising,” she said. “We are more than 21 years in F1 and we do get the question often and every time we say ‘We will be around’ and I am going to answer the same way and say next year we will be around as well.”
Caterham's financial woes, meanwhile, were underlined by their sudden sale three months ago when a mysterious consortium of Middle East-based backers took over ownership from Tony Fernandes. However, the prospect of Marussia lining up on the 2015 grid has been significantly bolstered by the team's points-scoring exploits in May's Monaco GP which has propelled the Banbury outfit to the heady heights of ninth in the Constructors' Championship.
"They'll get some prize money but they need a lot more than that to run an F1 team – at this level maybe £60 million or such like," cautioned Sky F1's Martin Brundle.
“I don’t like the idea of three-car teams. I would much prefer there are 12 strong two-car teams.”
Force India Team Principal Vijay Mallya was even more vocal in his criticism of the idea and has called for a bigger share of F1’s revenues for the smaller teams.
“I am a firm believer that every effort should be made to ensure that all teams, big and small, survive and race – that is part of the DNA of Formula 1,” he said.
“But the regulations and the agreements do provide that if the grid is less than 20 cars then participating cars will run a third car. I hope it will never come to that, as I said I think the DNA of F1 should be preserved.
“I will repeat once again that I will try and persuade the decision makers and the commercial rights holders that they should look very seriously at a more fair and equitable revenue share model so that we do not have to answer such questions all the time.”
The 2014 Singapore GP is live only on Sky Sports F1 this weekend, with our coverage beginning with Practice from 10.45am on Friday.
