Newey: customer cars positive for F1

As the row over Super Aguri and Scuderia Toro Rosso's plans to race with customer chassis this year continues, Newey thinks concerns about the move are misplaced.

He believes that rather than customer cars threatening the identity of the independent teams, that chassis sharing will allow them to become more competitive and put the manufacturer teams under some pressure.

"It is a very emotive issue," said Newey at the Autosport International Show. "To be perfectly honest, in modern F1, where we have six manufacturer teams who either wholly or own significant percentages of the teams that carry their engines, they are always going to be there and not use someone else's cars.

"The idea of Mercedes using a BMW chassis is not going to happen, so you are guaranteed a minimum of six constructors as long as those teams stay in.

"For some of the small privateer teams like perhaps Aguri or Spyker, it is difficult for them to come up on a much smaller budget with a car that is going to be competitive with a manufacturer-backed team.

"So the opportunity for small teams to be able to buy a competitive car off the manufacturers and go racing seems a very opportune one. Red Bull, we are kind of in the middle, in that we are not a manufacturer team, we are the biggest privateer team, but we are determined to do our own thing.

"But the point is that if you free things up then there is a choice. And in terms of enhancing the racing that has to be a good thing."

Newey believes that the chance for small teams to get their hands on more competitive machinery could only be good for racing - especially as the smaller teams are often able to bring young talent into the sport.

"Let's face it, someone like Minardi in years gone by have had some fantastic drivers," he said. "They found Alonso, and a few others who had their first drive in a Minardi.

"If that Minardi had in fact been a current Renault then they could have been right up and show that these young drivers were something much more. I sympathise with the FIA stance. In modern F1 where they are so many manufacturer teams it is a good thing."