Mosley: "F1 risks not surviving after 2009"

F1 may not survive after next season if teams don't drastically cut costs. This is the warning of the president of the FIA, Max Mosley. On the day the World Council gave him the power to negotiate with the teams' alliance, FOTA, to introduce radical cost-cutting measures, Mosley revealed that at least three teams were at risk of disappearing.

In an interview with BBC Sport, Mosley explained that the problem in F1 has existed for a long time, well before the international financial crisis: "It's a really serious situation. If we don't manage it by 2010 we will be in serious difficulty. With the loss of two or three teams we would no longer have a credible grid. We can survive in 2009 but beyond that I'm not sure at all. Teams like Toro Rosso and Force India only go ahead thanks to billionaires like Deitrich Mateschitz and Vijay Mallya. Without them these teams wouldn't be there. You can't manage a business when the revenue is two or three times the revenue. Some manufacturers are in difficulty, just look at the share price" added Mosley who is clearly aiming for the standardization of engines and gearboxes, a measure defined by the president as "draconian but necessary".