Ecclestone disappoints privateers

"I'm disappointed that we don't have any clear cut future, but I'm probably most disappointed by Bernie's comments," said Minardi team principal Paul Stoddart in Shanghai. "I think three cars would be an absolute utter disaster. We've just seen one manufacturer leave F1 (Ford) and if three cars come in, they won't be the last.

"Think about it logically. We don't want to be proud of this, but the small teams keep manufacturers off the back of the grid. The day when three cars from one manufacturer are sitting 19/20/21 in the championship is the day that they'll decide that they won't be around much longer. And Ford has just shown that they can be out of it very quickly.

He added: "Their mainstream business is selling cars on Monday, not racing on Sunday. It's not hard to think how a board will react when they are asked to spend upwards of a quarter of a billion dollars a year to be remotely competitive in F1. And someone has to be last..."

Eddie Jordan, who could not guarantee his team's future but vowed to fight 'tooth and nail' to be on the grid in Melbourne (see separate story) next March, added: "I'm sure Bernie had his own views when he said what he did, but how can you create and motivate a staff with those kind of comments from the leader of your championship? When you are talking to a sponsor, it's very easy for another team to come and say, look, you've heard what he (Bernie) says, so why bother being with Jordan, come with us."

Stoddart had a further point to make, regarding Jaguar's optimism in finding a buyer for its team after Ford's decision to pull the plug on its F1 programme: "Tony (Purnell) said they that need a blue chip multi-national company or a billionaire.

"Well, they need a billionaire because a blue chip multi-national won't come in with all the political infighting we've seen, together with the promoter of the sport turning around and saying we'll only have seven teams next year and dubbing the efforts of one of the biggest car manufacturer in the world steerage class... It is ridiculous."