Formula 1

Ecclestone backs customer cars, not budget cap

GMM

Edited: Apr 18, 2012, 4:24 PM

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Apr.18 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone has revealed he does not support moves to install a budget cap in F1.

Bernie Ecclestone, CEO Formula One Group

Photo by: xpb.cc

"It wouldn't work," the sport's chief executive Bernie Ecclestone told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport.

The big teams are also unlikely to join the cause, after Lotus and Sauber said recently a capped budget would provide a fairer playing field.

Ecclestone continued: "You can't stop people from spending the money they have. They will always find a way to get around whatever you try to do to control it.

"Instead, the technical rules should be written so that it is not possible to just use money to make a faster car," he insisted.

Another solution, said the 81-year-old Briton, is to allow smaller teams to buy year-old customer cars.

He said a clause will "probably" be written into the next Concorde Agreement.

Ecclestone acknowledged the dilemma that allowing customer cars could result in all the small teams buying the best car off-the-shelf, resulting in there being only a handful of constructors left on the grid.

"The way I'm imagining it, this would not be possible," he insisted. "I'll tell you about it soon."

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