Williams chief warns manufacturer team could quit
FUJI SPEEDWAY, Japan (AFP) — Williams chief executive Adam Parr has warned one of the bigger Formula One teams run by a major road-car manufacturer could quit the sport due to the global financial meltdown.
Parr said it wasn't just the small independent teams -- like Force India and Red Bull -- who could be hit by the current uncertainty that has seen stockmarkets crash.
"There is a serious possibility that one or two teams may pull out and they could be manufacturer teams," he told the BBC.
"The assumption is that it would be an independent team but I don't think this is necessarily the case."
His warning followed comments by FIA president Max Mosley on Tuesday that Formula One will only survive if drastic spending cuts were implemented, suggesting the sport would no longer be credible if two teams dropped out.
Mosley said Formula One's future was under threat because of the rising costs of running a team, and highlighted the fate of Super Aguri.
The Japanese outfit dropped out of the championship after the Spanish Grand Prix this year due to a lack of funds.
Parr said the problem was that the money being generated by teams was now less than it cost to participate.
"What is broken in Formula One is, in broad terms, the revenue available to the teams is less than the costs of participating in the sport," he said.
Concerned by the spiralling costs, Formula One chiefs will hold crisis talks after the Chinese Grand Prix on October 19 to work out a way forward.
While agreeing that change was needed, Toyota motorsport president John Howett cautioned against any knee-jerk reactions.
"In the end, if we have pressure, we will be told that's the budget and we will survive," he was quoted as saying by www.autosport.com at the Japanese Grand Prix.
"Clearly as a car manufacturer we will come under pressure because a number of markets are depressed, others are fairly buoyant like Russia and China.
"But I think the strong companies who continue to invest in marketing, who continue to invest in technology will become the winners."
