Gerard Lopez, whose Lotus team is one of three that threatened to boycott Sunday's US GP, is confident a solution will be found for the sport's financial woes.

In the wake of the collapse of Caterham and Marussia, Lotus, Force India and Sauber, threatened to boycott Sunday's race in Austin unless the sport began addressing the financial crisis facing the smaller teams.

It is understood that late intervention by Donald MacKenzie, co-chairman of the sport's largest shareholder, CVC, calmed the situation, but only temporarily, and if serious discussions do not begin soon the boycott will happen at the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Lopez is confident that a deal will be done.

"I really think there is a way to solve this in the next coming days," he told Reuters, "probably even to get to a proposal before Brazil, in which case I don't see the point in doing anything drastic which would damage the sport," he told Reuters.

It is unclear if the solution would mean the bigger teams taking a smaller slice of the cake, or whether the money would come from the Commercial Rights Holder (Bernie Ecclestone) and the sport's owners.

"It can take various forms," said Lopez. "I know CVC and Bernie have been looking at this but it's going to be a base payment that is given to the smaller teams, let's call them the racers, which is essentially going to make it possible for a normal budget to be pretty much close every year.

"It just requires a bit of good will," he continued. "There are some more financial intricacies to be built in but I think there is a way to build a proposal in the next couple of days."

"If we're keeping the same pot (of money available), even though I've heard that CVC is willing to help out but not alone, if it requires everybody to participate then it will require everybody to agree on how to participate," he admitted. "Even the people who have a strong opinion on the subject are not stupid and they know a bit of an effort is going to help everybody including themselves."

The big teams have made it clear that they are not willing to see their slice of the cake reduced, indeed, a manufacturer such as Mercedes would need to have the approval of its shareholders, who are unlikely to agree.

Furthermore, While Red Bull is considered one of the big teams, it is owned, like Toro Rosso, by a man (Dietrich Mateschitz) who could grow tired of the whole thing tomorrow and leave an even bigger gap on the grid.

While the rule changes have driven up costs it should not be overlooked that spectator numbers are down as are TV viewing figures and consequently sponsorship revenues.

These are the issues that really need to be addressed, and the public bickering over money and threats of boycotts is hardly likely to attract viewers or sponsors... quite the opposite.

Friday's press conference in Austin gave a fair picture of where we are, the vast chasm between the haves and have-nots. However, even the 'struggling' teams appear to be unaware of what is really happening outside Planet Paddock... it doesn't matter how big their slice of the cake might be if the fans have turned away and the cake isn't selling.