Mosley defends his approach to carmakers

Mosley's recent suggestions that manufacturers should be given no commercial income from F1, that engine-specifications be frozen for three-years, and that the carmakers must commit by next April or risk losing their place in the sport in 2008, have done little to quell talk that he is trying to drive them out.

But speaking to reporters during a pre-season lunch in London on Tuesday, Mosley said that the main motivation behind his plans is to actually ensure the manufacturers do not pull out.

When asked by autosport.com for his reaction to suggestions that he may be acting in an antagonistic manner to the manufacturers, Mosley said: "It sounds like that a bit, but it really isn't meant like that.

"The no-money (commercial income) thing is really quite logical - but what is logical and what people like are two really quite different things.

"They have had a three-year war with Bernie to try and up the money from him, from let's say $20 million to $40 million, but we can come along and we can take away more than $100 million straight like that on (cost-cuts with) the engines.

"Is it not then logical that if we take the $100 million out, although they didn't get their $20m to $40 million, they are actually $80 million better off?"

He added: "It is not an attack. It is just a completely logical conclusion from reducing the budget, because they are then much better off.  I do see that it could be represented as me having a go at them, which I really am not."

Speaking about the deadline for manufacturers to commit to F1 for 2008 by next April, Mosley said: "Yes, it does sound a bit harsh.

"But on the other hand we do need to be able to sit down with people who are going to do the championship and say, 'do you really want to change the second grommet on the ECU?' There are some really complicated things that we need to get right to make it all work."

Mosley claims his plans to freeze engine specifications in F1 from 2008 to 2010 will cut an engine manufacturer's budget from up to 200 million Euros down to less than 10 million Euros per year.

He is adamant that such a move is necessary if manufacturers are going to commit long-term to the sport.

"If the teams can run relatively inexpensively, then the chance of them stopping becomes very, very small.

"If you take the case of Renault, [CEO Carlos] Ghosn has made it clear that if it is cost-effective he will do it, and if it is not cost-effective then he won't. And I think the same, sooner or later, will happen to the other manufacturers.

"They are happily spending these hundreds of millions at the moment, but sooner of later the boards of these companies are going to say, 'Are we really giving value for money?'

"And there is no doubt if it is cheaper, then the chance of them shutting it down is much smaller."