GP2 moves to slash costs too

A reduction in the cost of parts has also been agreed with supplier Dallara, who build the GP2 cars, and series bosses will also allocate credit for spare parts to the teams.

Teams will also be restricted in how many staff they can bring to races. The maximum will be 13 for the first half of this season and drop to 12 from the second half onwards.

GP2 boss Bruno Michel said: "We cannot ignore the world's financial crisis that affects us all. We need to make sure we can go through the present delicate time by finding solutions both in the technical and sporting areas.

"We are trying to find the right level to keep the series as successful as ever. We have been looking at all the areas of our business and we have come up with the different steps that we will implement as of now.

"We are confident that our plan will help everyone go through the difficult period we are in and will have a very significant economic impact on the teams already in 2009."