Don't blame Mosley for the new teams' woe

Sir Jackie Stewart insists Ferrari are wrong to blame Max Mosley entirely for the problems that have dogged Formula One's new teams.

The Maranello marque last week launched a fresh attack on former FIA president Mosley, claiming his "holy war" against manufacturers last year led directly to the current financial difficulties faced by USF1 and Hispanic Racing F1.

USF1 have applied to defer their entry into the world championship until next year, while Hispanic Racing have been rebranded after the Campos team were taken over.

The teams were both part of a number to sign up after Mosley's reforms made it cheaper to compete.

If either take to the grid for the opening race of the season in Bahrain next Sunday, they will have done so without completing a single test lap.

Three-time world champion Stewart, who was also principal of his eponymous team in the late 1990s, was an arch-rival of Mosley before the latter stepped down last year.

But while he believes Mosley took the issue of cost-cutting in F1 too far, he feels it is wrong to pin the blame entirely on the former FIA supremo.

"Everybody's had to cut their cloth, not because of any regulation of Max Mosley's," said Stewart.

"But I think he overdid the threat in trying to take out a lot of the big companies from the sport so small companies and teams could come in.

"It's been demonstrated smaller teams are not coming in very well.

"We've lost BMW and Toyota, for example.

"You mustn't start saying it's bad for the sport to have the big companies in.

"But I don't think we can blame Max Mosley for this - all of it anyway.

"He probably went a bit too far."

Stewart, 70, was philosophical about the dramatic turnover of teams since last season, with Toyota and BMW pulling out and Renault operating almost in name only.

"They'll always come and go," Stewart said.

"Everybody has great ambitions; not everybody can pull it together.

"The financial climate in the world at the present time doesn't make life very easy."

'Don't blame Mosley for the new teams' woe' - Planet-F1 News from planet-f1.com