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World motorsport chief Max Mosley says he will push on with planned cost-cutting measures in a bid to sustain Formula One in the wake of Honda’s shock decision to quit the sport.
Honda on Friday announced its withdrawal from Formula One over the global financial crisis, ending an involvement which began in the 1960s and raising fresh fears over the sport’s future.
With one or more teams reported to be considering their options, FIA president Mosley says Honda’s decision upholds the beliefs he expressed earlier this year that Formula One was was spending money beyond its means.
A FIA statement read: “The announcement of Honda’s intended withdrawal from Formula One has confirmed the FIA’s long-standing concern that the cost of competing in the world championship is unsustainable.
“In the FIA’s view, the global economic downturn has only exacerbated an already critical situation.
“As the guardians of the sport, the FIA is committed to working with the commercial rights holder (Bernie Ecclestone) and the remaining members of FOTA (the Formula One Teams’ Association) to ensure Formula One becomes financially sustainable.”
The remaining nine teams, and there are now serious fears at least one more could fall by the wayside before the start of the season in Australia on March 29, have until next Thursday to sign up to the prospect of using a standardised engine.
Mosley has confirmed the FIA are now in exclusive negotiations with engine suppliers Cosworth, along with Xtrac and Ricardo (XR), for the use of transmissions.
If teams decide not to go with the standardised engine, they have two options open to them: the right to build an engine themselves, but identical to the Cosworth after being supplied with all the necessary technical information; continue to use their existing engine, but with the current ban on development and requirement for engine parity still in place.
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