Ecclestone defends Midland's Shnaider

Russian millonaire Shnaider had originally planned to enter Formula One with his own team, but he decided to buy the Jordan outfit to save the $48 million bond demanded of newcomers.

Despite the cash injection, the Midland team have been constantly surrounded by rumours about a possible sell-out, with GP2 team owner Alfonso de Orleans even claiming he was in talks to buy the Formula One squad.

Ecclestone says Shnaider's team should be left to focus on their task.

"We must stop listening to all the liars who say they're having talks to buy the team," Ecclestone told Autosprint. "When Jordan was for sale, Shnaider was the only one putting the money on the table.

"If it wasn't for his intervention, the team would have folded and there would have been only 18 cars in 2005. He represents a serious group and an important economy such as the Russian one. He doesn't talk, but he does things."

Earlier this year, however, Ecclestone had admitted he regretted having convinced Shnaider to buy Jordan.

"I feel guilty for having convinced Alex Shnaider into buying Jordan, I shouldn't have done it," Ecclestone said in February. "I tried to help him as much as I could. He's a business man but he probably underestimated the effort."

The team have failed to escape the bottom of the field, and have not scored since last year's Belgium Grand Prix.

But Midland's sporting relations manager Johnny Herbert is bullish about the team's chances for the future, especially when a new set of radical rules come into effect in 2008.

"Of course, everybody still wants to have a bigger budget so we can do more development," Herbert said on the team's website. "A little bit would go a long way, but then, it's never really enough in this sport, is it? So we've become quite resourceful at making do with what we have.

"Eventually, there will be a bigger budget, but it's got to be a natural progression, not a whole whack of cash all at once. I think we're going about things in an intelligent way.

"Everyone knew that it was going to be difficult to move forward enough to be in a position to chase points or move through the various qualifying sessions.

"The sport is probably more competitive than it's ever been before, because of the manufacturers that are involved and the desire they all have to be successful. The competitiveness has increased because of that.

"We are a small team, but there's a lot of talk about new rules for 2008 which I'm sure will benefit us. You've still got to be in a position to have the right ingredients to fight the other guys, and that's not easy. But the will is still there, both back home in the factory, and in the garage."