Pirelli hopes exciting racing will help ease Formula 1 funding woe

Following the demise of HRT, and amid a worldwide financial slowdown, there are now worries that the high cost of the change of regulations in 2014 could leave teams struggling to secure the necessary budget.

The issue has been highlighted over the winter with an increasing number of pay drivers in F1, most recently when Marussia was forced to drop Timo Glock because of money issues.

Click here for Edd Straw's in-depth analysis of HRT's demise

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery believes there is no quick fix for the financial troubles, but reckons his company can help improve matters by making the sport as exciting as possible for fans and sponsors.

"Obviously you worry about the health of any sport that has those sorts of discussions," said Hembery, when asked about his feelings on the increasing talk about cost issues in F1.

"These are, of course, very complex issues and there are areas where solutions are not imminent and will take a lot of time to develop. But you want to see a healthy sport, and you want to see exciting racing.

"It is hard to say how many teams you really need to have an exciting championship.

"But clearly, we have seen in the last few years a number of teams, who have come in under a concept of being able to perform in F1 with a reduced budget, disappear very rapidly because that hasn't been the case.

"The resources required to be a competitive F1 team are clearly much greater than the resources of a number of recent teams and some of the existing teams.

"We are conscious of that and we monitor what is happening. We want to know if we are able to do anything, and if we have ideas.

"From our point of view, we will try and make it more attractive, so they have a better chance of selling it to sponsors."