Formula 1 director of motorsport Ross Brawn says the time has come for the sport to "wind it down" as its costs can no longer be justified.
As F1 scrambles to mitigate the potentially devastating effects of the current crisis sparked by the coronavirus pandemic, the sport's chiefs are also taking the opportunity to question the future.
Excess spending has been the norm in F1 for years, but it's also been the prerogative of the top teams whose massive budgets have ensured their success at the pinnacle of motorsport but also a widening divide with Grand Prix racing's less endowed mid-field competitors.
Next year's budget cap, the exact level and details of which remain to be determined, will perhaps reduce the chasm, but Brawn insists a fundamental rethink of F1's economy is imperative.
"Perhaps this is a time for a reset," Brawn told Sky Sports. "And a time to say that in the good times F1 operated at a certain level, but now’s the time to take a view on that and decide if we need a re-set in terms of the costs and investments that are needed for F1.
"I think when we introduced the budget control there was always the anticipation that if we had a crisis, we could turn the dial down.
"I think to quote a Spinal Tap quotation, the dial has been set at 11 for too long. We need to wind it down."
In hindsight, Brawn believes that Formula 1 is the victim of its own success as top teams were given a free rein to spend at will, which they freely did because of the very positive return-on-investment.
"The paradox of F1 is that success breeds that," he said. "If you’re a brand like Mercedes the rewards that come from being successful in F1 are so great, they are many factors above what you spend.
"So although the budget of Mercedes is high, the rewards they are getting are even higher. And therefore they can justify spending a bit more each year.
"We all remember when Mercedes was an old man’s car, and now it’s not, it’s the hip car. They have changed the perception of Mercedes. And they’ve done a lot of that through F1. So it’s extremely valuable.
"So paradoxically the success of F1 has then driven the ability for certain teams to justify their budgets.
"Red Bull’s the same. Red Bull are able to show a multiple of what they invest in F1 in terms of what the returns they get for branding."
For Brawn, the financial breach between the top of the grid and the rest of the field must significantly reduced if F1 is to remain a sustainable business model.
"We’re a very successful sport, in many ways, and particularly commercially," he added.
"So therefore for those who can justify it keeps driving those budgets on, and creates the gap between the teams that don’t have that opportunity, or don’t have that situation, and the teams that do.
"There’s too big a void between the front three, it’s three teams really that enjoy a high level of budget, and the rest who are trying to make a model work which is sustainable."
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