Independent engine companies Ilmor and Cosworth backed Formula 1's proposed new rules "as a potential entry route for new competitors," according to Andrew Benson of the BBC. The pair said that it is "almost impossible for a new company to compete with the current engine suppliers under the existing rules." Cosworth Managing Dir Bruce Wood said, "The current regulation is beyond any new entrant, technically and for the commercial investment it requires. The new proposal makes it possible for an independent or existing car company." Steve Miller, managing director of Ilmor, which ran the Mercedes F1 engine program until the early '00s, said that the new rules proposed last week by FIA and the F1 Group from '21 "open the scope to a much broader range of manufacturers" by making it cheaper to design and build an F1 engine. However, both companies said that they "would need investment from an external backer before they could contemplate making an F1 engine, even under the proposed new rules" (BBC, 11/6).
'DOOMED TO FAIL': REUTERS' Alan Baldwin reported former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone believes that any attempt to make F1 more competitive by imposing a budget cap is "doomed to fail because the big teams will still find a way to stay on top." The 87-year-old Briton, who moved aside in January when U.S.-based Liberty Media took control, also warned on Monday that a threat by Ferrari to walk away after '20 "should be taken seriously." Ecclestone: "Most of the people down the field, if there was a budget cap, probably wouldn't do any better than they are doing now. Whatever cap you put on Mercedes and Ferrari and Red Bull, it doesn't make any difference. They'll do a much better job and will find ways of spending the money." Ferrari has "threatened to quit before, usually around contract renewal time," but Ecclestone said that Ferrari Chair Sergio Marchionne was a "very different character" to former head Luca di Montezemolo. Ecclestone said, "The difference is that Sergio wasn't the guy in control before. If he decides that's what he's going to do, that's what he'll do" (REUTERS, 11/6).