F1 infected with series-killing ride-buyer disease (Update)

UPDATE Luca di Montezemolo seems to have forgotten that Spanish bank Santander only came on board at Ferrari when they contracted Fernando Alonso, or was it the other way around … was it when Ferrari signed its contract with Santander that they could afford Alonso? He also says the only movement of drivers this year, where no money was involved, is from Raikkonen to Ferrari … This time he seems to forget three things, their own ex driver Massa went without bringing any money to Williams (or did he … Petrobras ?), with Hulkenberg's return to Force India there is also no money involved and Magnussen doesn't bring in any money at McLaren.

01/05/14 Like all open wheel race series, F1 too has the disease that will eventually be its undoing. Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo believes that the fact that the midfield F1 driver market this season has been dominated by pay drivers is a warning sign that F1 is not in a good situation.

"If we look at the teams today, in my whole career of F1, I have never seen teams survive with the money of the drivers," he said.

"This year all the movements of the drivers has been basically based – except for [Kimi] Raikkonen to Ferrari – based on what money drivers can give to the teams.

"This is for Force India, for Sauber, for Lotus and for Williams. It is not healthy…"

"The cost [to run a team] cannot be decided by the technicians – because if so we will never achieve it," he said.

"The only way to approach this is to say to the FIA that all the teams are unanimous in agreement to cut the costs. Do whatever you want – come back to us with a proposal that for sure can decrease the costs in a heavy, heavy way. Then we adjust ourselves.

"We have to achieve a goal to decrease in a heavy way the costs."