Oct.10 (GMM) Even F1’s biggest-spending teams seem ready to compromise on drastic cost-cutting measures for formula one
Nick Fry, the Honda team’s chief executive, wrote in a column for the Daily Telegraph that he backs a 30 per cent budget reduction, and even more radical ideas like a standard engine design
“We need to reduce the cost of competing by 25 per cent to a third in the short to medium term and improve the revenue flow,” he said
“There is a move to standardise engines and make them last longer, which will contribute to the cost-cutting drive, and to distribute prize money more equitably so that those teams at the bottom get an equal share of the proceeds,” Fry added
He acknowledged that the global financial crisis is putting “a number of teams” under pressure, even though big hitters like Honda are “relatively less affected”
“At the other end of the scale, there are private teams reliant on sponsorship from companies that are clearly under the most enormous pressure, be it a bank or a commercial sponsor,” Fry said
“A grid with 10 healthy teams should be preserved,” he explained. “Unless we do something now some teams that are more exposed to commercial issues, the independent teams, are not going to be around.”n
