Mosley Warns Formula One That It Must Cut Costs to Survive

Max Mosley, the president of motor sport's governing body, the FIA, has warned that formula one may only survive one more year if it does not introduce major spending cuts.

Mosley admitted he is worried for the future of the sport due to the spiralling costs associated with running a team. He insisted that the sport could not afford to survive on billionaires' handouts and must become more cost-effective if it is to survive. The Super Aguri team dropped out of this season's championship due to a lack of funds and Mosley fears at least two more teams may also have to withdraw from the championship.

"I think it would put the sport in an unsustainable position if we lost two more teams," Mosley told the BBC. "At the moment we have 20 cars competing and if we lost two teams we'd have 16 and then it would cease to be a credible grid.

"Some of the manufacturers are already having difficulty if you look at their share prices. This hasn't been prompted by the credit crunch. This is something I have been campaigning for for two or three years. It had become apparent long before the present economic difficulties that formula one is unsustainable. If we can't get this sorted out by 2010 we will be in serious difficulty."

The Canadian grand prix at Montreal, the scene of Lewis Hamilton's first victory in formula one, has been omitted from the 2009 world championship schedule by the FIA. This will be the first time since 1987 that the fixture at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has been missing from the calendar and its absence means that there will be no formula one race in north America following the loss of the United States grand prix at Indianapolis which was last staged in 2007, a year in which both races were won by Hamilton's McLaren.

It is believed that Bernie Ecclestone, the formula one commercial rights holder, has been under pressure from the teams not to crowd out the calendar with more than 18 races as this would preclude a mid-summer break in the schedule in which the team personnel could recharge their batteries and take a holiday.

On the new calendar there will be a four-week break separating the Hungarian grand prix on July 26 from the European race at Valencia on August 23. The final British grand prix at Silverstone will take place on June 21, a fortnight earlier than usual.

2009 calendar

March 29 Australia

April 5 Malaysia

April 19 Bahrain

May 10 Spain

May 24 Monaco

June 7 Turkey

June 21 Britain

June 28 France

July 12 Germany

July 26 Hungary

August 23 European

August 30 Belgium

September 13 Italy

September 27 Singapore

October 11 Japan

October 18 China

November 1 Brazil

November 15 Abu Dhabi