New rules will safeguard the future: Mosley

FIA president Max Mosley believes the regulation changes implemented by the sport's governing body last week will safeguard the future of Formula One. The changes, which start this season and will be phased in over the following three years, were described by the FIA as cost-cutting measures that were needed to stop any more teams going the way of Prost and, more recently, Arrows.

"In the medium to long term, F1 could have collapsed," Mosley told BBC Radio. "One or two of the independent teams might have stopped. The bigger sides might not have been able to run a third car and they might have stopped as well. If we had left everything as it was, the whole thing could have spiraled."

Some have agreed with the new regulations but others are not so happy. McLaren boss Ron Dennis is one who was a voice against the changes. "One or two teams were against and most of the others had reservations on one point or another," said Mosley. "Ron Dennis said he had so much to say he didn't want to say anything but in the end the consensus was that something had to be done."

Aside from trying to keep down the financial overheads, the latest changes will also help to keep the on-track action a closer fought battle. Mosley thinks that whichever is the best team will still be the best team, regardless of the new rules.

"When you know who is going to win each race because the cars are so reliable it becomes uninteresting," he commented. "If you eliminate some of the electronic aids, you eliminate some of the uncertainty. But in the end the best team will win, so we are not punishing success."