From te Max Mosley Interview:
When you say "three or four who are interested in F1", do you mean people who would be prepared to enter a team in the Grands Prix?
MM: Absolutely. There are three, perhaps even four people who are very well known – I'll leave it to you to guess their names (the names David Richards or Roger Penske, in particular, are heard regularly), who want to join F1, but who are currently unable to because of the costs involved. And if we manage to reduce the costs, to 100 to 120 million dollars (100 million euros), for a reasonable budget, they will come. They are independent teams, who therefore have to earn their living from sponsorship. They do not want to lose money in F1.
Are these racing people, or outside investors?
MM: They are racing people. They are from the milieu; they have money or access to money. If I count them all, in fact, there are at least six who have this project in mind, including three, as I see it, or even four, who are serious. They have two years ahead of them in which to prepare. But they must make a decision at the beginning of 2006 if they want to compete in 2008.
Your main criticism of the major constructors is the escalation of costs…
MM: Yes, I am very sorry to keep going on about this, but it is the basic point. There are major constructors who are already spending 300 to 400 million euros and who are prepared to spend still more in order to win the World Championship, because it's very, very important for their image. I want to say to them: "If you want to carry on playing with us, you'll have to play by our rules, because the World Championship belongs to the FIA." History has shown that constructors come and go as they wish. They have a perfect right to do so, but our task is to see to it that the Championship goes on, with or without them.
Can Mr Mateschitz, the owner of the Red Bull trademark and of two teams (Red Bull and Toro Rosso), also leave when he wants, the day when, for marketing reasons, F1 is no longer of interest to him?
MM: Absolutely. But that does not pose a problem. We don't need a Mr Mateschitz with enormous sums of money, as on a "normal" market, with all the major worldwide companies, we shall always find someone to replace him… provided that the costs are not prohibitive. At the moment, F1 is too expensive. A big private team, very well known in America, recently told Bernie (Ecclestone): "We want to join F1, but only if we can do it with a budget of 80 million dollars." Because that is the level at which that team can make a profit. Frank (Williams) is now thinking along the same lines, Ferrari too…
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