Formula 1 urged to rethink cost-cutting plans amid growing unease

[AustinF1]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/111197

 

Renault ambassador Alain Prost, whose own team folded at the end of 2001, reckons current plans to control costs have failed, and it is time for a totally new approach.

 

"I think it is already late - but never too late, for sure," he said. "I think budgets are too high considering the revenue, considering the sponsors.

 

"There are a lot of things that should have been done a long time ago. But it is also a competition and that makes it very difficult to stop somebody who wants to spend more money.

 

"So if you cannot stop that, which I think is very difficult to do, you need to find other ideas.

 

"Teams spend a lot of money on the aerodynamics and, in my opinion, I always said I cannot understand why we have so much importance in aerodynamics.

 

"I understand that big teams have wind tunnels and things like this, but you can only by rules reduce the importance of aerodynamic.

 

"You could have a flat bottom, and go back a little bit to the wider tyres, to get more mechanical grip than aero performance. You can keep the wind tunnel but maybe the importance will be less."