Breaking news
Formula 1
Whitmarsh: Formula 1 will “crash and burn” before it gets better
Former McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh is worried that F1 will “crash and burn” before becoming a great sport again.
Andrew van Leeuwen
Published: Jun 25, 2015, 6:19 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Whitmarsh, who is now involved in yacht racing through America’s Cup challenger Ben Ainslie Racing, added that he is saddened to see F1 in its current state.
“I love Formula 1 and I love McLaren,” he told Reuters. “I was there 25 years. I am saddened by it.
“I am staying away as much as I can, and try not to comment on it, but I'm saddened by what's happening in the sport.
“I think it will crash and burn before it gets turned around, in my view. It will do eventually, but I'm sad to see it go through the process it's going through.”
He also said that the sport hasn’t adapted to changing circumstances well enough, leaving F1 in a “difficult place”.
“If you look at the cycle, you had the sport as it was 30 years ago, then the tobacco era which was the big growth spurt and the automotive era when we had at one time seven of the nine largest automotive companies,” Whitmarsh said.
“Then that went away with the economic crisis and it's diversified but in order to diversify it also has to recognise, which it's struggling with, that it has to be doing it at a slightly different level.
“And it's also got to be a bit more equitable in terms of distribution. It is an ongoing argument and unfortunately at the moment it's led itself into a very difficult place.”
Whitmarsh was in charge of McLaren until the start of last year, and was also formerly the chairman of the Formula One Teams Association.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Horner rubbishes talk that his Red Bull future is in doubt
Next article Mercedes worried Ferrari on verge of F1 breakthrough
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Andrew van Leeuwen
Toby Price explains 'unfortunate' Mitsubishi split
Dakar
Dakar
Dakar
Toby Price explains 'unfortunate' Mitsubishi split
Supercars parity review begins
Supercars
Supercars
Supercars parity review begins
SRO set for bigger Australian GT presence
GT World Challenge Australia
GT World Challenge Australia
SRO set for bigger Australian GT presence
Latest news
Winner and losers from MotoGP’s cancelled Australian GP weekend
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 min
Winner and losers from MotoGP’s cancelled Australian GP weekend
Inside COTA's Turn 1 clubhouse and its plans to build a second track
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
19 min
Inside COTA's Turn 1 clubhouse and its plans to build a second track
Max Verstappen puzzled by Q3 grip loss, but Austin shows how far Red Bull has progressed
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
Max Verstappen puzzled by Q3 grip loss, but Austin shows how far Red Bull has progressed
Carson Hocevar says Zane Smith feud is "pretty one-sided"
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
3 h
Carson Hocevar says Zane Smith feud is "pretty one-sided"
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe