F1 may face crisis next year if does not make 'significant' cost cuts, says McLaren chief

The McLaren team principal warned that unless Formula One made significant cost cuts, it will head toward a crisis within the next 18 months.

The introduction of new engines and gearboxes, along with in-season testing, will be seen again next year and is expected to cost teams from eight to ten million dollars, as a result of which many smaller teams may skip one or more of the tests for cost reasons.

According to The Age, McLaren chief Martin Whitmarsh said that the sport might find itself in a crisis and pay the price of the mistake it made with introducing the new powertrains and failing to properly control the costs, adding that the introduction of V6 turbo engines next year added even more costs to an already highly expensive sport.

The report mentioned that previous efforts to reach a cost-control agreement through the F1 Teams Association (FOTA) have failed because the bigger teams, including Red Bull, have been unwilling to handicap themselves for the good of the sport.

However, Red Bull principal Christian Horner agreed with Whitmarsh about the necessity of cost control, saying that although FOTA worked in the beginning, it fell apart because self-interest was too strong amongst competitors.

The report further said that a potential solution to reduce costs for smaller teams is the introduction of customer cars, in which they could buy chassis and aerodynamic parts from the big teams in the same way they now buy engines.