F1 prepares to tighten its belt
As the global economic crisis deepens, Formula One is starting to feel the pinch.
Toro Rosso boss Gerhard Berger wants F1 to be more tight-fisted as the global economic problems start to bite.
The sport’s lavish image is in stark contrast to the belt-tightening going on in the outside world.
Many in F1 are well aware that the sport will have to make changes to how it does business to ensure it emerges from the credit crunch mostly intact.
Super Aguri, even with the might of Honda behind them, failed to make ends meet and folded after just 39 races earlier in the year.
But for Eddie Irvine, Michael Schumacher’s team-mate at Ferrari from 1996-99, financial problems might work in F1’s favor — particularly for the grid’s also-rans.
“Everyone is selling a lot less cars and these are the guys who are paying for F1,” the Ulsterman told Sky News.
“The sponsorship deals are subsidized by car manufacturers. You’re going to see spending [cut] back and it has to [be cut] back because it has been madness for years.
“It will be good for F1 because it will level the playing field off a little bit. Money hasn’t made the show any better, it has made it worse.”
