Tech cuts could alienate makes

Predictably, much of the paddock gossip at Suzuka surrounds the FIA's discussion proposals for the future of Formula 1. One recurring theme is that any steps backwards on technology threaten to alienate the major manufacturers that are now behind 70 percent of the grid

Honda's Otmar Szafnauer said in Japan: "From our perspective, some of the proposals were to penalise some of the technological advances and that's really not what we hope to have done in F1. We'd hate to see proposals that penalise technological superiority and would hope that those sorts of things would not come to fruition.

"As far as cost-cutting goes, it's a tricky one. Budgets move around and if you're not allowed to do something, you do something else. You use another part of your technology."

Toyota, meanwhile, is the newest manufacturer on the F1 scene. TMG's president Ove Andersson said: "It's very difficult to make radical changes overnight. As easily as we improve the show, we might destroy it. We have to be very carefully.

"Generally speaking we are against penalising people who are doing a good job. F1 is the pinnacle of the sport and the idea is to show technical excellence. I think it would be a big mistake to penalise people doing a good job."