Peter Sauber: Cutting costs biggest challenge Formula 1 faces

Sauber, who stood down as team principal of his eponymously-named outfit this year, believes that a budget cap would be an effective way of tackling this problem.

The teams, Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA have been locked in discussion about cost-cutting measures throughout the season and implementing such measures has been made a priority.

"I think the biggest challenge today is the commercial part," Sauber told AUTOSPORT.

"That's not only for Sauber, that's also for some of the big teams.

"Formula 1 is too expensive today, that's the important fact."

But Sauber is concerned about the rate at which discussions have been advancing.

He has called on the bigger teams to recognise the need to implement change as soon as possible.

"The progress has been slower than slow," he said.

"It's difficult and I hope that the big teams realise that they have to do something."

The Sauber team has been a supporter of the implementation of a budget cap for some time.

A £30 million was proposed by then-FIA president Max Mosley back in 2009 for introduction the following season, although this was subsequently raised to £40 million and ultimately abandoned.

"We very much support a budget cap," Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn told AUTOSPORT earlier this season.

"That is the right way we should be going and we should eventually reach the point where we have a budget cap."