Walker Cool On F1 Chief's Dire Prediction

The Age

Thursday October 9, 2008

Nick Sheridan, with Agencies

AUSTRALIAN Grand Prix boss Ron Walker has played down suggestions by Max Mosley, the head of formula one's governing body, FIA, that formula one will only survive for one more year unless drastic spending cuts are implemented.

Mosley, who is to stand down next year, said the sport's future was under threat because of the rising costs of running a team.

Mosley highlighted the Japanese Super Aguri team, which dropped out of formula one after the Spanish Grand Prix due to a lack of funds, and said he feared at least two more teams may also have to withdraw.

"I think it would put the sport in an unsustainable position if we lost two more teams," Mosley told BBC Sport. "At the moment we have 20 cars competing and if we lost two teams we'd have 16 and then it would cease to be a credible grid.

"Some of the manufacturers are already having difficulty if you look at their share prices."

Walker, who is chairman of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, said that while he agreed with Mosley's plan to control spending, he did not believe the sport itself was under threat.

"I believe that what Max is saying is correct, in part, that the costs need to be reduced and there are many people in chorus with him, but as for the survival of formula one, I think it's going to go for many decades to come, I don't believe it's in jeopardy of failing next year," he said.

Walker said he was confident the immediate future of the sport was assured because the broadcast rights and track signage rights were all sold out for years ahead, and he had not heard of teams being concerned about their own sponsorship agreements in light of the crisis.

"I was at the Singapore race .. and I spoke to the majority of the teams about sponsors and I didn't detect team owners hemorrhaging at the thought of losing sponsors for next year and not being able to compete," he said.

Mosley insisted the sport could not afford to survive on billionaires' handouts and must become more cost-effective if it is to survive - regardless of the current financial climate.

"This hasn't been prompted by the credit crunch. This is something I have been campaigning for for two or three years," he said.

"It had become apparent long before the present economic difficulties that formula one is unsustainable. If we can't get this sorted out by 2010 we will be in serious difficulty. We can survive through 2009, but I'm not too sure about after."

Mosley said simple cost-cutting measures would help the sport survive.

"The most obvious one would be to reduce the cost of the car," he said.

"The engine and gearbox costs about #25 million ($A61.43 million) a year and that could be done for probably 5% of that cost without anyone in the grandstand noticing at all.

The Canadian Grand Prix has been dropped from the 2009 calendar, leaving North America without a formula one race for the first time in 43 years. It has been replaced by the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, maintaining the 18-race schedule.

A claim by team Red Bull that static electricity from an underground train forced Mark Webber out of the Singapore Grand Prix has proven to be unfounded.

The gearbox on Webber's car tried to select two gears at once when he was at turn 13, causing a "momentary electrical surge", a team official reportedly said.

But Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit system said there was no track under turn 13. -- With AGENCIES

© 2008 The Age

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