Publications
Partners
Formula 1, like the rest of the world, is in the midst of an unprecedented financial crisis.
The sport is losing money on a daily basis as races are either cancelled or postponed with Canada the latest to halt its preparations.
That brings the tally to nine races not being run, costing the teams both sponsorship and television money.
This has led to McLaren team boss Zak Brown saying he fears as many as "four" teams won’t survive.
F1, though, is taking steps to try lessen the financial burden on the teams.
Not only have three teams - McLaren, Racing Point and Williams - taken up the UK government’s furlough initiative, but the sport has decided to race this year’s chassis in 2021 while also freezing other parts.
The rules that were meant to change for 2021, all except the budget cap, have been deferred to 2022.
An even lower budget cap
As for the cap, that has been lowered to $150m although some teams are still pushing for an even lower $100m.
Former F1 World Champion Rosberg has applauded F1’s response.
Rosberg said: "A lot of revenues will be lost, but at the same time, F1 has already implemented measures now to save a lot of money. Development has been halted and postponed. So that’s going to save a lot of money. And they’re in discussions for many other things. They’re doing the right things."
READ: Formula 1 in a 'very fragile state', warns McLaren boss Brown
The German added that it is vital that F1 saves all 10 teams from financial ruin as it would have a major impact on the sport if the grid was short four or even six cars.
He told Deutsche Welle: "The biggest issue at the moment is the financial situation for some of the smaller teams because the F1 circus needs all teams to participate. If two or three smaller teams drop out, then it’s not really a great sport anymore because there’s just not enough teams competing and not enough teams on the grid."
