Lotus Team Principal Eric Boullier Says Formula One Costs Need To Come Down

Lotus Team Principal Eric Boullier said that "the costs of competing in Formula 1 must be brought down in order to safeguard the future of the current grid," according to Noble & Tremayne of AUTOSPORT. Boullier believes that 80% of teams are in favor of negotiating ways to reduce expenditure, "but that a select few teams are preventing a consensus and creating an effective impasse." That means smaller teams -- including Lotus -- "face a financial deficit that they cannot plug indefinitely." Boullier said, "The problem is that some teams -- like Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes -- can still afford the old way and can spend a lot on the car; we can't. To keep teams competitive, we need to keep a minimum budget with our resources, but this limit is above the revenue stream so we need our shareholders to bridge the gap" (AUTOSPORT, 8/8).