Just days after the three remaining 'privateer' teams virtually bowed out of Formula One, Alex Shnaider, who bought out Jordan, and which will run as Midland F1 in 2006, has called on the sport to make it easier for small teams to compete.

Considering that Minardi has sold out to Red Bull, Sauber to BMW and British American Tobacco to Honda, not to mention Shnaider's purchase of Jordan, this has to be one of the most blatant cases of bolting the gate as the horse gallops up the pitlane.

"Can we win in Formula One?" said the Russian born Canadian, according to PA Sport. "Eventually, why not?" he added.

"But things have to change. The rules have to change because for a private team to compete with the manufacturers is impossible. The resources the manufacturers have are much greater than a private team can have, no matter how rich the backers are. It doesn't make any economic sense."

Despite the fanfare when Shnaider took control of the team, which saw the Silverstone-based outfit present its car and drivers to bewildered commuters and tourists in Red Square, the team has been the subject of constant speculation, with many doubting that he fully appreciated what he was getting involved in. Indeed, there has been much talk of Shnaider looking to offload the team.

That said, he remains adamant that he intends seeing it through.

"More or less everything went according to plan," he said of the first season. "We learned a lot and improved the team as much as is possible. We organised some things within the team and we are looking forward to next year with the re-branding. We want to further improve the team and make steps forward.

"Certain ingredients we definitely have," he added, "but there are other teams that have all the right ingredients and they are still not having good results. So you never know, it's not only the ingredients, it's how you mix them together."

Although the Midlands will run Toyota engines next season, there is still no clue as to who will drive the cars, though it's understood that prospective drivers will need healthy sponsorship budgets.