Tost: F1 future becomes 'critical' in July
The situation in Formula 1 will become "very critical" if the current shutdown period continues beyond July.
That is the view of Franz Tost, boss of one of the smallest teams on the grid - Red Bull-owned AlphaTauri.
"If we start competing in July, we will come out with a black eye," he told the German language motorsport-total.com. "If we don't start, it will be very critical."
The Austrian says his Italian-based team has already calculated the cost of the current race postponements, which will now stretch all the way to June.
"When we don't contest a grand prix, it costs us one and a half to two million," said Tost.
And if that continues, he explained: "If nothing happens throughout the year, it will be a very critical matter. If you have no income, it is obviously an economic disaster."
MotoGP boss Carmelo Ezpeleta is now saying that even if no premier motorcycle races happen in 2020, the organisation will still pay the teams each month.
But in F1, Haas boss Gunther Steiner insists: "If we don't have a world championship, it will be difficult for many teams to survive."
However, there are efforts being made to dramatically cut costs and lower the 2021 budget cap, but - as is always the case in Formula 1 - there are disputes.
"I believe that problems always have to be tackled positively," said Steiner. "A problem also creates new opportunities.
"If we all work together, pull all ten teams together, we may even get out of this situation better. For the sport and for everyone."
Tost agrees: "We need to wait and see which races we have, what income we have and how it looks with the sponsors. Do they stay, do they disappear? What does the whole economic situation look like?
"We have to face reality to find out where we are economically," he added. "Then we have to sit down and say 'This is the challenge we are facing and we have only this money and that money left'.
"Only Liberty Media can give us a starting point. They are responsible for the money from sponsors, from television rights, from organisers, which they then distribute to us.
"If they cannot distribute anything, we don't have much to spend either. Now, we wait and see," said Tost.
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Money, money, money...every single F1 conversation is about money. How much does this team spend, what is that sponsorship worth, what is the top driver salary? Thank god we had a "golden age" a while back when all that mattered was the racing. Maybe a washout will allow us to regain the joy of pure competition.
I agree. A re-start without the greed and the massive corporate band wagon with real racers and real racing spirit like in the 60's and 70's and to an extent in the 80's - the truly Golden period - would be absolutely fabulous. Get rid of the long narrow tracked ugly cars of today and design the rules around compact, fat, wide-tyred loud beasts and open the sport up to F2 and F3 teams to be able to afford to compete in F1 with even allowing existing lower formula teams to buy off the shelf chassis and gearbox components form existing F1 teams so you end up with customer teams running McLaren and Williams chassis designed to the new rules for example. Wouldn't that be exciting, especially the number of new drivers getting a seat in F1 that is currently severely restricted due to the small number of teams. The likes of Hulkenberg and Alonso having a chance to get back behind the wheel would be incredibly exciting!
Carl, it sounds like you might remember Pete Lovely, a US VW dealer, loading his repurposed Lotus 49 on a trailer and hauling it across the continent to Watkins Glen to race in the USGP. Before you Euro/Brits jump all over me, Pete was a damned good driver who loved racing. Be nice, respect my nostalgia. LOL
Yes, I do remember him. I'm an F1 history buff and don't have the same passion for modern day F1 as I should. I did go to the Italian GP in 2018 though. Hamilton drove one of the finest races of his career to usurp Raikkonen from what would have been a hugely emotional win.