Ecclestone: “Formula 1 teams are moving forward despite the crisis”

According to Bernie Ecclestone, F1 teams have not yet shown any signs of being hit by the global recession. Despite the loss of sponsors, the withdrawal of Honda and radical cost cutting, the teams continue to carry on as usual, the F1 boss explained in an interview with the Guardian newspaper.

“You would have thought that the teams would have brought fewer people to the tests and would have started cutting costs. But they are bringing more people than last year,” Ecclestone said.

“I know this because we are the ones who provide the passes for access to the circuits. It doesn't seem like they're cutting a lot of costs.”

Despite Honda's decision to withdraw in the face of declining sales of its cars, and the team's fortunate survival as Brawn GP, ​​the grid will continue to have 20 cars this season.

Furthermore, the same commercial structure remains, with Ecclestone in charge, despite information from The Obverser newspaper, which reports investors' concerns for the future.

“I will continue to do what I do as long as the shareholders are happy and I can continue to satisfy them,” Ecclestone insisted. “When I feel that I can no longer complete my work, then I will do something else. For now, I'm staying here,” he added.

Andre' Cotta