Stoddart Believes Radical Steps are Good for F1

Minardi team owner Paul Stoddart believes a "radical" proposal supported by nine of the ten Formula One teams will be good for the future of Formula One, and states these changes are "just the beginning."

All teams except world champions Ferrari issued a statement of proposed cost-cutting measures, including limitation on testing to 10 days, as they look to preserve the long-term interests of Formula One.

If the changes go through in 2005, the British and French Grand Prix would be saved, the statement claimed, but for that to happen a unanimous agreement must be reached - including Ferrari.

Stoddart, who read the statement out at the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos, said he hoped Ferrari will agree to the proposals for the sake of the sport.

"This is just the beginning, we started off with this but we could look at the weight limit, at all kinds of other aspects of the car that causes us to spend unnecessary money," said the Australian, whose back-of-the-grid team are struggling for survival.

"The idea here is not to dumb down in any way shape or form but actually come up with a better balanced package of measures which allows us to go forward, hopefully with 10 teams.

"It's a question now for Ferrari to decide whether to join the other nine teams and support this proposal.

"This is a very, very significant step. There may be some nice wording here but don't underestimate how radical this is. This is a very significant step."

Ron Dennis, the McLaren team boss, had earlier expressed the frustrations of the teams at Ferrari's failure to agree to change, which is believed to be caused by their insistence on testing remaining unchanged.

"I think there is a lot of frustration at the transcendence of some people to embrace the necessity for radical change," Dennis said. "The majority of the teams are deeply frustrated."