Ecclestone says no to Sauber bailout

Bernie Ecclestone has ruled out intervening directly to help the embattled Sauber team survive.

In the not-too-distant past, the F1 'supremo' has been known for bailing out struggling teams.

But amid reports the Swiss team Sauber is now struggling to survive, Ecclestone said: "We have agreements that require us to treat all the teams equally."

The 82-year-old told Swiss broadcaster SRF that "one solution" for the Hinwil based team would be to sell up.

"They're a good team," said Ecclestone, "and I'm sure there is more than one possible buyer.

"I don't want to imagine F1 without Sauber. Ideally, they will find new sponsors in the long term, but even companies who are willing to support them in the short term would be fine," the F1 chief executive added.

"The team deserves to be helped," said Ecclestone.

"I don't know exactly what their financial situation is, but I know it's not as good as it should be."

And he said Sauber might not be the only team in trouble.

"There are others," said the Briton, "that are spending more money than they have."

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Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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