Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley has warned that the customer car proposal put forward by the big manufacturers is “very worrying” for the future of Formula 1.
During a recent Strategy Group meeting, it was decided by Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull that they should supply ‘customer cars’ to smaller outfits for a set fee, in a bid to boost the grid and secure the future of the sport.
However it could very well do the opposite and signal the death of the sport according to Fernley, who pointed out that manufacturers are always leaving F1 when things get tough, whilst independents swoop in to save the day.
“The DNA and the strength of Formula 1 is about the independent teams. They are the backbone of Formula 1,” he told Autosport.
“If you look over the last decade and you will see that four manufacturers have pulled out of Formula 1.
“When Honda pulled out it was Brawn, as an independent, that came in and saved the day, stepping in and winning the championship.
“When BMW pulled out, Peter Sauber, at huge cost to himself, stepped in and saved them to again run it as an independent team.
“When Renault pulled out, Gerard Lopez stepped in as an independent and saved the day for that team.
“When Toyota pulled out everything was lost,” he added.
“The consequences of putting everything into four manufacturer teams is very worrying because if one of them fails, or at the whim of a board decides to pull out, you wouldn’t lose two cars, you would lose four or maybe more.”
The impact would reach much further though, with the loss of jobs, skilled workers and the infrastructure behind the independents, which would make going back to the present a far more difficult task if the customer car plan fails.
“There would be no ability to replace them because you would have got rid of the infrastructure that was previously there,” continued Fernley.
“And let’s not forget, customer cars would result in hundreds and hundreds of jobs being lost in Formula 1.”
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