Ecclestone Not Surprised by Jaguar Demise

Jaguar did not have the financial clout to be major Formula One players and they should have quit last year, according to the sport's commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

"It was inevitable and wasn't really a shock to me," Ecclestone told Reuters after Ford announced they were pulling out at the end of the year and selling their Jaguar team and Cosworth engine maker.

"They couldn't really afford to be running around at the back of the grid with the likes of Jordan. They should have been up front with Ferrari and BMW (Williams), the top teams.

"I don't think they had the necessary financial investment to be competitive and in my opinion they shouldn't have run this year at all."

Ford earlier announced they would be cutting 1,150 jobs as part of a reorganisation of the Jaguar car group.

"They obviously have problems and they're closing a factory so it would have been a bit cheeky to keep the Formula One factory going in those circumstances," Ecclestone added.

Ecclestone said he thought there was a chance a buyer could be found for the team but that would not tackle the underlying problem of the huge costs of running a Formula One operation.

"You never know, I know there are people interested but I don't know whether they will be able to make the necessary financial investment any more than Ford could," he said. "Formula One is very expensive business these days and we need to reduce the amount of money it takes to be competitive.

"Teams could still spend whatever they wanted, but the amount of money needed to compete would be less."

Ford said Cosworth, which supplies engines to the struggling Jordan and Minardi Formula One teams, would also be sold.

"They supply two series in America as well as the three teams in Formula One so hopefully there will be a buyer and everything will be OK," Ecclestone said. "If no one buys Cosworth and it goes out of business then Jordan and Minardi are in serious trouble."

That raises the prospect of as few as seven or eight teams competing in Formula One, something Ecclestone thought might raise the level of competitiveness after another season of Ferrari dominance.

"I'm sorry that it's happened because we don't need to lose the Ford Motor Company, but there could be an up side," he said. "There's provisions for the teams to run three cars and that would perhaps give us 20 competitive cars on the grid next season."