Mateschitz: Teams should own F1

At present, private equity company CVC Capital has a majority 70 per cent share in the Formula One Group, with the remainder owned by financial services firm JPMorgan and Bernie Ecclestone's family trust.

Mateschitz, who owns both the Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso teams, believes this situation is unhealthy for the sport - especially during a time of economic crisis.

He fears that the financial groups will be more concerned with getting a return on their investment than securing F1's future.

"They have neither expertise nor passion about and for motorsport," Mateschitz told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur news agency.

"Their engagement, which is natural under the circumstances, is simply a financial one, geared towards maximising profits.

"It is the teams that are carrying all the financial risk. It is the teams that not only have the necessary competence, they also have the necessary passion for motorsport.

"There is just one logical and ethically justifiable owner of Formula One and that is the teams. That is the only way that the survival of motorsport is guaranteed on a long-term basis.

"The teams need to maximise their marketing value, but they also need to own the assets.

"Everybody can see that the value of Formula One is not that which it was a year ago."

The F1 teams have become more proactive in their efforts to safeguard the world championship and shape its future in recent months, having set up the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) and worked with the FIA to implement dramatic cost-cutting rule changes.