19/09/2014
NEWS STORY
With a typical lack of sentimentality, Bernie Ecclestone has admitted he would be keen to see three-car teams in 2015.
Whilst there is no disputing the fact that the sport's popularity has rocketed under his watch, so too has the roll call of teams that has fallen by the wayside.
So many illustrious names, including the Brabham team he once owned, are now mere history as the sport's insatiable appetite for cash continues seemingly unabated.
With Marussia and Caterham clearly struggling, so too are Sauber, whilst Lotus' problems, despite the denials of Gerard Lopez, have been on record for the past year.
However, in Bernie Ecclestone's world there is no time for regret, just as circuits come and go so too do the teams, the F1 supremo, as ever, looking to turn a problem to his advantage.
"We'll know after the next two or three races," he told reporters in Singapore when asked about the possibility of a 24-car grid next season in which a number of the current teams would be missing whilst others would field three cars. "It's always been on the cards that if we lose up to three teams then the other teams will run three cars.
"I think we should do it anyway," he admitted. "I would rather see Ferrari with three cars, or any of the other top teams with three cars than having teams that are struggling."
Asked to clarify is such an arrangement was already being discussed, he replied: "Oh yeah, for sure.
"I've been around - most people say too long - but long enough to know there are always people at the back of the grid," he added when asked if anything could be done for those teams seemingly doomed to falter in the coming weeks and months.
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Chris Balfe