According to a report in the Financial Times, the FIA is to present the teams with a dramatic cost cutting package for 2010.

In the light of the global financial crisis which has seen Honda quit the sport, and the futures of several other teams put in serious doubt as sponsors withdraw and (road) car sales fall, the FIA is seeking the cuts in an attempt to save the sport from itself.

It aims to cut the cost of competing for the manufacturer teams from €300m (£270m) a year to under €100m (£90m), and the cost for the independents down to €55m (£50m).

Precise details are to be presented to the teams in a white paper, as the FIA admits that F1 has failed to contain costs.

It is understood the reports divides the current teams into two groups, the 'cost centre teams', those owned by the car manufacturers and 'profit centre teams', the privately owned teams.

The FIA intends that an independent team should be able to run on a budget of €55m, of which €40m would come from TV money and the rest in sponsorship. The cost of building the car would be approximately €20m in addition to fixed costs such as the factory staff and travel.

The FIA wants to see the manufacturer teams also operate on a budget of €50m, but would settle on a higher figure, but below €100m, providing they make their technology available to the smaller teams.

"People who are thinking ahead can get a clear idea of how we see a lower cost F1 in 2010, to get us through this downturn," the paper quotes the FIA's Technical Consultant, Tony Purnell, as saying.

According to the FT; "one important caveat is that if a manufacturer team decides to compete in an area of technology they must be prepared to supply the technology they develop at a capped price to the teams who choose not to compete, in the same way that FOTA agreed that engines will be made available to independents at just €5m a season".

Although such a move would be unpopular with the top teams, the FIA believes it would assist the smaller teams to challenge the front-runners and reduce the need for the manufacturers to spend.

"When we see that things are picking up and there is more money in multinationals for discretionary spend, then we can start reintroducing a wider technical competition," says Purnell. "But we'll keep to a central philosophy that engineers work on things that are relevant to society, like fuel economy and efficiency.

"People who are thinking ahead can get a clear idea of how we see a lower cost F1 in 2010, to get us through this downturn," he added.