Boullier denies three cars per team in F1 in 2015
While Adam Parr stated that there will only be eight teams on the grid next season, each with three cars, Eric Boullier believes that will not happen. However, the Frenchman acknowledges that some teams are struggling with financial issues and that a solution must be found to help them.
The former boss of the Williams team, Adam Parr, hinted on his Twitter feed on Sunday that some teams might not be on the grid in 2015 – thus confirming the financial difficulties faced by certain teams, such as Caterham, Marussia, or Sauber.
To have a substantial grid, he hinted that some teams could enter three cars: « This is the last year of F1 as we know it. In 2015, eight teams will compete in the championship, with some entering three cars. »
The information was, however, denied this Tuesday by Eric Boullier, the racing director of the McLaren team, during a conference call. The Frenchman nevertheless expressed concern about the future of certain teams in the current Formula 1 lineup.
« I think it’s a bit provocative. We all know that Formula 1 is in a transition period: with the manufacturers over the last ten years, budgets have literally exploded and now we are in a different economic situation and there is a transition. So there are potentially several teams that could suffer from this and I don’t know if they will be on the grid. But I don’t think we will have only eight teams and three cars per team next year, » Boullier told Sky Sports F1.
The idea of allowing certain teams to field up to three cars is not new and has resurfaced regularly in recent months. Bernie Ecclestone stated to La Gazzetta dello Sport that if smaller teams were not able to handle the increase in costs, then they should stop: If you don’t have the finances, you leave. I am ready for a Formula 1 with eight teams, each with three cars.
But Eric Boullier believes that teams should receive a larger share of the revenue generated by F1 in order to survive: « There is, as always, a lot of discussion about this situation which is not comfortable for some teams, and I obviously hope that there will be developments in the F1 business model in the future to prevent this from happening. »
