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Analysis: F1 looks healthier with Aguri

For the first time since 2002, when Arrows followed Prost onto the scrapheap, Formula One will have 22 cars on the starting grid after Super Aguri's confirmation as the 11th team

More could follow before long, even if commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone insists that 12 teams is the maximum permissable.

FIA president Max Mosley believes there are three or four more interested parties out there.

"If we manage to reduce the costs, to $100 million to $120 million, for a reasonable budget, they will come," he told French newspaper L'Equipe recently.

Penske Racing, who won the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix with Briton John Watson, have been mentioned while former Benetton and BAR boss David Richards's name keeps on cropping up.

Austrian Gerhard Berger, the former racer and ex-BMW motorsport director, is another interested party according to media reports.

Mosley, ever the astute politician, has an obvious interest in talking up would-be participants at a time when the governing body and leading carmakers are fighting over the sport's commercial future.

Five manufacturers, four of whom own teams outright, are threatening a rival series from 2008 while five teams have agreed to extend the existing agreement with Ecclestone.

The FIA has, meanwhile, published rule changes for 2008 designed to encourage 'independent' teams.

Billionaire Owners

Despite the political uncertainty, and most people expect a deal to prevent any split, Formula One teams look more financially stable than they have in years.

Two years ago the picture was very different. Ford's decision to quit and sell both Jaguar and engine maker Cosworth in 2004 sent a tremor through the sport, with Jordan left without an engine and Minardi in serious difficulties.

There was a sense of crisis, with fears that a domino effect could reduce the grid to seven or eight teams.

Since then, Dietrich Mateschitz's Red Bull energy drink company has bought both Jaguar and Minardi while Toyota provided engines to Jordan, now Midland under the ownership of Russian-born businessman Alex Shnaider.

Mateschitz and Shnaider operate on another level to entrepreneurs like Eddie Jordan or Minardi's Paul Stoddart.

The Austrian is worth at least $2 billion, according to Forbes' list of the world's richest people, while Midland owner Shnaider weighs in at $1.4 billion.

Doubts remain about champions Renault, with Fernando Alonso's move to McLaren for 2007 prompting new speculation that the French carmaker could leave in two years' time, but others have waded in deeper.

Honda have bought BAR and are helping Super Aguri with engines while BMW have taken over Sauber.

McLaren F1 managing director Martin Whitmarsh said this week that Mercedes, who own 40 percent of his team, were more committed than ever.

"The level of interest in McLaren from Mercedes-Benz is higher than it has ever been on all fronts and I think there is absolutely and clearly a commitment to being in F1 for a long time," said Whitmarsh.

Bahrain Deadline

The fact that Super Aguri managed to win over all 10 teams to let them compete after missing the November deadline to post a $48 million bond also shows how much the climate has changed.

Ecclestone did much of the arm-twisting but even he has struggled in the past to sway bosses who rarely agree anything unanimously.

Super Aguri now have a race to be ready for the season-opener in Bahrain on March 12.

The Honda-powered team have an interim car, after buying chassis and intellectual property rights to the 2002 Arrows from Stoddart, and intend to run their own after the first three long-haul races.

"In 2001 we had to build an entirely new car, which they don't," said Stoddart, recalling a similar battle he faced after buying Minardi in 2001. "We did it in six weeks and three days...it won't be easy but I'm sure they will achieve it.

"It's no different to what Jordan had to do last year when they ran what was predominantly the 2004 car and had to put a Toyota engine in it," the Australian told Reuters.

The headache for organisers now is how to squeeze 11 teams into the pits and paddock at races like Australia, Monaco and Brazil's Interlagos where space is limited.

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