Richards considering F1 return

Richards has already had two spells in the sport, one with Benetton and the other most recently with BAR, and he has said that providing costs are brought down and other factors fall into place then a third assault for him cannot be ruled it.

"I would not say it is unfinished business, but Prodrive is a motorsport business and that is at the heart of everything that we do," said Richards on the main stage at the Autosport International Show.

"We are involved in most aspects of it, but we are currently not involved in F1 - although we do supply some components.

"I will only go there (into F1) when the situation allows us to be competitive and to make a profit - and the changes coming for 2008 might allow that to come to fruition."

Richards clearly believes that a new commercial package for the teams and revised rules to make racing cheaper and more exciting from 2008 may allow Prodrive to make the move.

"There will be a major change there," he said. "Those with the deepest pockets are inevitably going to win at the moment and we have got to put more back for the drivers so they can play a bigger role.

"We need more to come in terms of game play in the races to make it less predictable and that is the way to appeal to the fans - and to add some interest to the sport.

"There is no point making an engineering challenge if the drivers cannot make a difference."

When asked whether he would consider a role in helping manage F1 itself, Richards said: "Don't you think I've got enough jobs already. Let's just go one step at a time."