Ecclestone worried Ferrari may leave F1

Ferrari's legal bid to prevent plans for a voluntary budget cap was rejected by the French courts on Wednesday, and it is looking increasingly likely that the Italian team will not submit an entry for the 2010 championship by next week's deadline.

With discussions between teams to try and find an alternative cost-cutting proposal to the FIA's £40 million budget cap are scheduled for Friday in Monaco, Ecclestone has conceded that he is not totally comfortable with the situation.

"Well, I am concerned, I don't want them leaving," said Ecclestone about Ferrari's tough stance. "I don't think anybody does."

Ecclestone has 'doubts' that teams will be able to come up with a solution to the problem before the May 29, and reckons that most outfits will not lodge entries by the time the deadline closes.

"We will have to wait and see," he said about what will happen next week. "Probably, the majority won't put an entry in."

When asked for his thoughts on Ferrari's cheeky suggestion that the quality of teams looking at entering F1 meant that the category should be renamed 'Formula GP3', Ecclestone said: "It is an opinion, isn't it? We've had more than 70 teams in and out since F1 started. The only people who have been consistent are Ferrari, because they have been there from day one. So, we don't want to lose Ferrari."

Ecclestone also believes that the rejection of Ferrari's legal bid meant little in terms of resolving the current situation.

"It is exactly the same as it was before. It means with the veto, they have they have to serve it at the right time. So if somebody does something today, then they need to serve a veto by Monday to stop it, so nothing has changed from that point of view. Let's see what happens."