McLaren would welcome GP2 teams with customer cars in Formula 1

The idea of bigger F1 teams supplying smaller outfits with chassis has been discussed at length this season, but the current grid is split on the idea.

In the recent F1 fan survey carried out by AUTOSPORT, F1 Racing and Motorsport News, 62 per cent of fans said they were in favour of the customer car model being allowed.

Boullier believes such a deal could benefit a team like ART Grand Prix, which is associated with McLaren and Honda, and currently leads the GP2 standings with McLaren junior Stoffel Vandoorne.

"We like the idea that a GP2 team, [such as] ART, could come along and buy or rent two McLarens," Boullier told F1 Racing asked about the findings of the survey at June's Canadian Grand Prix.

"Straight away they would be competitive, without all the investment.

"Then the show would be better and it would give, say, our two McLaren young drivers, Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel, the chance to do something.

"One of the problems today is the cost of being competitive.

"This is a solution to get more competitive cars on the grid, without prohibitive costs."

The majority of the smaller teams are against the introduction of customer cars, and Manor president and sporting director Graeme Lowdon questioned the effectiveness of adopting the model.

"People say customer cars will reduce costs - well if that's the case then Manor should be making all of them, as we do it cheaper than anyone else," he said.

"Quite clearly that's never going to be accepted.

"Customer cars don't solve the fundamental problem, it just makes it easier for people to come and go."

Letting teams run third cars was also a popular suggestion in the fan survey: 26 per cent were in favour of it, with another 39 per cent supporting the concept if it was only for young drivers.

This month's F1 Racing features an extensive analysis of the fan survey results, including reaction from senior paddock figures. The survey results will be published in full on AUTOSPORT.com next week