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Analysis: Aguri exit a sign of the times

Super Aguri's departure from the Formula One championship on Tuesday has left the sport with just 10 teams and no sign of any new entrants on the horizon

Commercial uncertainty, doubts about the sport's future rules and the credit crunch that has gripped the global economy over the past year have only served as a deterrent to potential newcomers.

The sex scandal surrounding the head of the sport's governing body, International Automobile Federation (FIA) president Max Mosley, has not helped.

The sport's landscape has changed considerably since Super Aguri, let down by a key sponsor last year and owing backers Honda huge sums, entered Formula One in 2006 on a wave of optimism.

The idea then was for Aguri to compete as effectively a Honda B team with Mosley saying that so-called 'customer cars' were the future of the sport.

Prodrive had secured the coveted 12th and final slot, apparently beating off 10 other bidders, with the intention of entering this year with McLaren cars and Mercedes engines.

A1GP organiser Tony Teixeira was looking into a similar arrangement with Ferrari and Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso.

However, that all fell apart last October when former champions Williams challenged the legality of Prodrive's entry and made clear they would fight their corner all the way to the civil courts.

Williams had argued that teams that do not make or design their own cars should not be allowed to score championship points or benefit from television revenues earmarked for constructors.

"Obviously if a team comes into Formula One without any investment in the staffing and equipment that we've built up over the last 25 years and gains access to a (customer) car ... then it's a serious commercial threat to us," Williams co-founder Patrick Head said last year.

Prodrive subsequently announced that they would not be taking up the 12th slot while Teixeira told Reuters that his talks with Toro Rosso ended late last year when it became apparent that customer cars would not be allowed from 2010.

"If the rules change, I would look for a spot in F1," added the South African. "If the rules don't change, there's nothing in it for us."

Honda's eagerness to support Aguri waned when they realised the problems facing their works team, who scored just six points last season.

New Honda F1 team principal Ross Brawn and chief executive Nick Fry are determined to get back among the front-runners next year and do not want any distractions or dilution of the parent company's resources.

The FIA is eager to bring the costs down, introducing long-life engines and four-race gearboxes but a proposal to impose budget caps on teams is still some way off.

In the meantime, the sport is dominated by the major manufacturers. The last independent team to win a race was Williams in 2004.

Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya has revived and renamed as Force India the former Spyker/Midland team that emerged from the remains of Jordan.

But that team were a far more attractive proposition than Super Aguri because they had a history as a constructor as well as owning their factory.

The cost of starting a team from scratch is prohibitive for all but the biggest players. Toyota were the last to do so in 2002 and they have spent well in excess of $1 billion without winning anything. BMW bought Sauber rather than go it completely alone.

Toro Rosso are looking for a buyer, and that team may now have increased in value as a result of Super Aguri's exit, with Red Bull's billionaire owner Dietrich Mateschitz saying last month that the decision to sell was also because of the change in the customer car regulations.

"For that reason I see it as essential that we concentrate on one team," the Austrian, who also owns Red Bull Racing, told Switzerland's Motorsport Aktuell magazine.

"The cheapest thing you can do in Formula One is buy a team," he added. "It only gets expensive when you try to run one seriously."

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