"The world won't stop," Bernie says in the wake of Honda's pullout. (LAT Photo)
Bernie Ecclestone says that F1 is not in a crisis after the Honda withdrawal, but is just suffering the knock-on effects of what is happening around the world. Ecclestone has been pushing the teams to cut expenditure for some time, in conjunction with Max Mosley.
“I think F1 is in no bigger crisis that any other company throughout the world,” Ecclestone told the BBC. “The world is in crisis at the moment, but the world won’t stop, that’s for sure.
“Everyone’s been working like crazy to reduce the necessity to spend to be competitive, I think even yesterday there was a meeting of the technical people to change the regulations in order for this to take place, and I have no doubt that there would have been a drastic reduction in the cost and as I say the necessity to be competitive, which is what we’ve been trying to do.”
Ecclestone said that he thought the Honda team would be a good buy for somebody who had the cash: “Also it’s a big, big shame for Honda, because I have no doubt that that team would have been running certainly in the top four, without any problems. They’ve spent a lot of money in fairness to put themselves in that position. So if anyone does want to be in F1 this is a team they should certainly look to buy.”
