Williams opposed to three-car teams
Tuesday, 08 September 2009 18:30
Three-car Formula 1 teams would ?not be healthy? for the competitiveness of the sport, according to Sir Frank Williams.
The prospect of teams running a third car in the 2010 season was first publicly raised by Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo last month, who revealed that the Scuderia was ?continuing to fight until every team has the right to start with three cars in the next season?.
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali then repeated that stance at the last round in Belgium, saying that Michael Schumacher could even fill a third car next season should he have recovered from the neck injuries that scuppered his recent comeback bid.
?We feel it is for the benefit of Formula 1 and it is better to make sure the biggest teams have three cars because that's what people want,? Domenicali told The Times newspaper at Spa.
"With all respect to the smaller teams, the value of Formula 1 is to have good drivers, great personalities, in good cars and with a great brand,"
However, independent team owner Williams feels three-car teams would be bad route for the sport to go down.
He believes that the prospect of a couple of major manufacturer teams running three cars that were all competitive would only result in the front of the grid being locked out for the rest of the field.
?If you have two or three elite teams with great resources and almost unbeatable cars, they will occupy the first 4? rows on the grid," Williams was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph.
"If you're team number five in the pecking order you have no chance of getting near the front of a grid.
?It's not healthy."
Williams?s opposition to third cars could again bring the Grove-based team into confrontation with Ferrari, the two teams having already clashed last month when Williams, along with the Red Bull outfits, blocked the Scuderia?s request to grant special dispensation to allow Schumacher to test its current car.
Looking back at the episode which saw Ferrari accuse his team as lacking fair play, Williams stressed that his outfit had simply wanted all teams to abide by the rules that had previously been agreed.
"Those are the rules and the rules are put together with more force and authority by the manufacturers than by teams like Williams," he said.
"We've signed up to those rules and we expect all parties who are signed up to honour their signatures."
Nevertheless despite its run-in with Ferrari, Williams says he expects his team?s membership of the Formula One Teams? Association to be reinstated "sooner rather than later" after it was suspended from the team?s body earlier in the year after breaking ranks and signing up to the 2010 F1 season unconditionally.