F1 has gone back 20 years - Trulli

With the sport no longer dominated by manufacturers - following Honda, BMW and Toyota's departure in recent seasons - F1 has seen a resurgence of independent outfits.

But rather than that being good for the sport, veteran Trulli reckons it has been a detrimental step because the struggle to finance a team means money can speak louder than talent.

"In the last couple of years F1 has taken an ugly turn: contracts are worth less and less, the only thing that interests is the big money brought by various 'little' drivers," Trulli told .

"Only four teams can guarantee excellent drivers; as for the rest the level is extremely poor.

"When I started there was a lot of quality because many constructors aimed at having winning drivers. Nowadays many teams' budgets are made of the money brought by the drivers.

"Lotus is the most serious team among the newest entries, but in the event of financial troubles they too would need to find money. Serious as it is, our organisation is small, the marketing department isn't what you'd find in a top team, it's hard to keep going. F1 has gone back 20 years: many small teams and a few constructors."

With the future of Vitantonio Liuzzi uncertain, amid speculation that Force India could drop him for 2011, there is a chance that Trulli could be the only Italian on the grid this year.

Trulli said such an event would be bad for his country - but blames the Italian economy and the fact that Ferrari is dominant in people's psyches as the main issues.

"The CSAI [Italian Motor Racing Commission] can't do so much," he said. "The problems are most of all down to the economy, to our mentality and to Ferrari. Italians only care about Ferrari. Outside Italy, drivers find sponsors in their countries - [Vitaly] Petrov is the latest example - while at home it's a huge struggle."