Mosley unmoved by cost-cut criticism

Mosley revealed his intention to press ahead with a three-year engine freeze in F1 from 2008 at the British Grand Prix, a move that was subsequently criticised by several car makers who are not sure it is the right direction to be heading.

Some, especially Japanese carmakers Toyota and Honda, are adamant that F1 should be technologically driven - and that any move to limit technology goes against the whole ethos of the sport.

Honda's Otmar Szafnauer said: "We are completely against it. There will be no ability to develop the engine and you'll know every race where everyone is going to start and finish. All you'll have to do is compare numbers. Do we want that?"

Mosley has said that such complaints are going to fall on deaf ears, because he has no doubts that the sport will actually improve when his cost-cutting plans come into force.

And he thinks that even with engine homologation in place, there is still enough scope for manufacturers to ensure that the best technology still exists in F1.

"It seems to me that we have to save the teams from themselves, which means we must restrict the scope for development but still leave F1 with by far the most advanced technology in motorsport," he writes in his latest column in F1 Racing.

"So, if budgets are reduced, we will end up with a far better, more competitive, championship. There will be protests and threats, but we had those when we stopped the qualifying cars, introduced the Saturday parc ferme and went from three engines per weekend to one engine for two races.

"There was a furious reaction each time, but now none of the teams want to go back to the old ways. In the end, if you do what's right it comes right."

Mosley claimed there is no doubt that F1 would suffer in the future if budgets were allowed to continue growing.

"Who cares if the car companies waste $1.25 billion a year? It's their money and they're not damaging the sporting spectacle; they're doing no harm," he added.

"The problem, however, is that they are doing harm, not just to their shareholders whose money they're wasting, but to the sport. The damage is twofold. First, one by one we will lose them. Car manufacturers have financial troughs and peaks. When they hit a trough, they stop competition if that will save them a lot of money.

"Second, the more money a team spends, the fewer their real competitors and the poorer the overall competition. It's a lose-lose situation from a sporting point of view and grossly wasteful from a business perspective."