10 Nov 2014

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F1 cash crisis: Teams wary of 'agenda'

ALAN BALDWIN

SAO PAULO, Brazil - Formula 1's financially struggling smaller teams fear there could be an "agenda" to change their Constructor status to mere operators of (older) cars provided by their richer rivals.

Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn told reporters after the 2014 Brazilian GP (Nov 9): "Looking at the proposals, we have to believe there is some agenda here. When ideas are offered to us of a year-old chassis or engines of a different specification or whatever, a different series, there must be an agenda.

"Those ideas are ideas but they tell you where it is going... the more these ideas come up the more we three get the feeling that maybe some people don't want us around and maybe the sport is supposed to be changed in a very different way."

'SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT'

The "three", Sauber, Force India and Lotus, have all been calling for a fairer distribution of revenue to guarantee them a "base payment" that would help them to continue competing.

Talks with commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone at Interlagos produced no agreement, Ecclestone holding out little hope of one: "We are giving these teams collectively $900-million (about R1-billion) and that's enough." 

Force India principal Vijay Mallya had said that Ecclestone had agreed to talk to commercial rights holders CVC in London on Tuesday (Nov 11) to discuss the situation. However, during a race of shifting positions, Ecclestone said he would be talking to CVC co-chairman Donald Mackenzie about "something completely different".

CUSTOMER SERIES

Force India deputy principal Bob Fernley wondered whether the goal was to turn F1 into a Constructor/Customer series.

"The clear direction we are getting is that there is a desire to have five Constructorand five Customer teams."

The 2014 Brazilian GP had only nine teams after Marussia folded and Caterham, in administration, remained absent while putting out an online begging bowl to try to raise enough cash to compete in Abu Dhabi on Novemberr 23.

Ecclestone has made it clear that if the team does not race then it will be out of the championship. Fernley and Kaltenborn said their teams would fight on with Fernley saying: "The past few weeks have exposed what the game plan is. We just want to make sure that we stay a Constructor and we will work hard to do that to stay competitive."

Stay with Wheels24 for the 2014 F1 season – fresh reports every day.
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