TENERIFE, Canary Islands — The head of motor sport’s world governing body called for a “radical revision” of Formula One costs on Friday after Honda announced it was pulling out of the glamorous racing circuit.
FIA president Max Mosley said he wasn’t surprised by Honda’s withdrawal, saying it showed that “much more needed to be done” to cut spiraling costs.
“We need to have a radical revision of the whole thing and we’ve got to get the cost down,” Mosley said in a teleconference call. “Not by 10-20 percent but down to 10-20 percent of what they are now, or in that region.”
Honda said the global economic slowdown led the Japanese manufacturer to quit F1 — where teams normally operate with an annual budget of around 200 million pounds (230 million euros; $294 million) — in order to concentrate on its core business.
The team, which is based in Brackley, England, is looking for a new buyer to keep racing in 2009.
Mosley said he couldn’t imagine any manufacturers coming into the sport “unless we make really significant reductions.”
“If you go into the detail it’s completely mad what goes on at the moment,” he said. “Huge sums of money are spent at the moment to get the tiniest advantage and it’s that which we’ve got to stop. We can make all of these changes and no one would notice.”
Honda’s exit shows just how precarious the sport has become as a recession looms. Mosley said he wouldn’t be surprised if Grand Prix organizers begin pulling out as the high cost of staging the races takes its toll.
“It affects everything, not just the teams,” Mosley said. “It’s difficult to predict and we’re at the mercy of the overall situation. What we must do is everything possible to make sure that we have taken every step we can to get our costs under control.”
Mosley said the large sums being invested in aerodynamics, lightweight components, sophisticated gearboxes and wind tunnel testing were “a total waste of time.”
“Costs can come down without viewers noticing any change,” he said.
Mosley said he could foresee old-style entrepreneurs getting back into the sport if teams agree to operate on a budget of 30-40 million pounds, making the sport less dependent on subsidies or sponsors.
A standardized engine will also help. Earlier Friday, FIA announced that streamlined engines would be supplied by Cosworth, and transmission from Xtrac and Ricardo from 2010.
Mosley said three teams have already reacted positively to the standard engine plans, although Ferrari has threatened to quit the sport over the move. Teams, which can also build their own engines along the same specifications, have until Dec. 11 to sign up.
“We’ve got a complete program we want to put through but we have to get the teams to agree to most of it,” Mosley said. “If we do that the costs will come down to the point where the whole thing will be viable. If we don’t do that, I’m not optimistic.”
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