Bernie Ecclestone thinks it is unlikely that more manufacturers will enter formula one in the near future.
Six of today’s eleven teams are major carmakers, leading F1 supremo Ecclestone to conclude that names including Volkswagen and Porsche are not likely to join the circus.
“It is very difficult for them to come in because a lot of the manufacturers are already in very good positions,” the 76-year-old Briton told the news agency ‘sid’.
Bernie said: “It would take three years just to catch up.”
In the same interview, Ecclestone set out his desire for a new street race to be staged in Asia under floodlights; a comment that bolsters speculation that an announcement about the inaugural Singapore grand prix is imminent.
He said F1 should not be deterred from organising new races simply because venues like France and Britain occupy traditional berths on the current calendar.
“If they are no longer up to our standards, they go,” Bernie said plainly.
“We are very international – a proper world championship – and not bound to any specific countries. If the standard is not good in those old countries then we have to look somewhere else.”
He mentioned the countries Mexico, India and Russia when asked what names might be added to the grand prix calendar of the near future.
“South Korea is another one,” Ecclestone added, explaining that the number of races each year might have to be raised to as many as 20 to accommodate the new hosts.
