Bernie backs Mosley in rule change row

After the two team bosses threatened to take the sport's governing body, the FIA, to arbitration over the way in which it introduced new rules into F1 this season, Mosley sent a strongly-worded reply to the teams in which he rebutted their claims.

"You can be assured of one thing: I've known Max for 35 years and he wouldn't embark on something that he thought he couldn't win or wasn't in the right position to defend," said Ecclestone. "So, I've put my few dollars on him as it happens."

Speaking of Mosley's reply to Dennis and Williams, Ecclestone said: "Max is becoming pen friends with Frank and Ron, which is nice."

Ecclestone claimed that the teams themselves were responsible for forcing the FIA to introduce the changes in the manner it did. He said: "The teams have all the opportunities in the world with all the [FIA] commissions to really write all the regulations themselves and give them to the FIA to implement.

"It's just a fact that they can't agree amongst themselves to do anything. Some teams are running with budgets of $400 million plus in some cases and others are trying to run with budgets of 60 or 70 million, which is still in my opinion much too much.

"So you can see how difficult it is for them to agree. The 'haves' want to spend more money because they want to race with money rather than with their talent."