Despite BMW’s decision to quit the sport at the end of 2009, Max Mosley remains confident that Formula One can continue to have a bright future, as long as teams’ implement cost-cutting measures.
Speaking to the BBC, Mosley claimed that there would be plenty of potential parties to take the place of BMW-Sauber, if a buyer for the Swiss-German operation could not be found.
“We’ve got three new teams and several more who’d like to come in,” he said.
“If any more manufacturers quit we’ve got people who’d replace them. I think F1 will be very healthy with or without the manufacturers.”
The FIA President, expressed his desire for teams to enforce stricter cost-cutting measures, given the damage that the current recession is having on the World Car-manufacturing industry.
“All of these companies have problems, they’re shutting factories, putting people on short-term contracts and even in most cases depending on taxpayers money, through things like scrapping schemes.
“Team principals who run the teams don’t want their budgets cut but we’re now going over their heads to the chief execs of these big companies saying ‘you’ve got to back us up in efforts to get costs down’, – and I think all the indications are that this will happen,” he stated.
“I don’t know that we’ll get a budgetary cap, but we may get a significant reduction in expenditure.
“Teams are making efforts to reduce but we don’t think they’ve gone far enough or fast enough.”
Mosley also moved to dispel any speculation surrounding the future of Toyota, Mercedes and Renault, claiming that he did not expect any other manufacturer to leave the sport in the short term.
“There are rumours, but there are always rumours, so we don’t pay attention until we get concrete information,” he said.
“All the manufacturers to some extent have to be kept an eye on, as they’ve all come in and out (of the competition) on more than one occasion.
“You always have a worry about a manufacturer as it’s not their core business.
“With somebody whose core business is not F1, there’s always the possibility they’re going to leave.”
