Ron Dennis Says ‘One Or Two’ Formula 1 Teams Could Fold This Year

Ron Dennis

McLaren Chair Ron Dennis believes "one or two" Formula 1 teams "could fold" before the end of the '16 season, according to Rowlinson & Beer of AUTOSPORT.

Dennis said that while he believes F1 "is far more stable than most people realize" there were individual teams in jeopardy.

He said, "Certain teams are currently experiencing hardship, and in fact I wouldn't be too surprised if one or two of those teams fail to make it to the end of the season."

Dennis regards such teams' plight "as a consequence of their own financial mismanagement rather than a sign of fundamental problems with F1."

He said, "The managers of such teams get into such positions because they spend more money than they have. It's the same in any business: if you spend more money than you have, then you're going to find yourself in difficult territory." Though he declared himself "optimistic" about F1's future, he admitted its structure "made it hard to agree on changes."

Dennis: "There are lots of things in F1 that the teams recognize could be better, but it's not easy to find a solution everybody will support. Even when the teams are unified in their position, if that position isn't supported by either the FIA or CVC and its officers, then the process by which the series is governed at the moment provides for it not to happen." Autosport