Abiteboul rejects Red Bull's idea: "And that's probably no surprise"
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- GPblog.com
Christian Horner recently came up with the idea of introducing customer cars to Formula 1. The smaller race stables buy a complete car from one of the top teams, levelling the field and reducing costs enormously. Haas F1 and McLaren, among others, were already negative about this proposal and Renault isn't enthusiastic either.
"It's probably no surprise that I'm not happy with that plan," Cyril Abiteboul said at GPUpdate.net. The Renault team boss doesn't think Red Bull Racing's plan really solves the current problem of the pinnacle of motor racing. "As a quick fix to fill the grid, I can still understand it. But there is no need for that at the moment. And furthermore I don't see it as a structural solution."
The 42-year-old Frenchman continues his story by stating that every team in Formula 1 should be able to operate independently. "I still see a customer team as a dangerous construction, something like that affects the playing field and therefore the idea of fairness in the sport," says Abiteboul, who believes that customer teams will always do work that is in the interest of the larger race stables.
Abiteboul wants different Formula 1
As a result, the top teams will always be at the forefront and the hierarchy will not change. "It creates a two-tier system and that's what people don't want. Anyone who joins this sport and does well should have a chance to win. And everyone who watches a Formula 1 race should be able to be surprised by who wins the race. That's not the case now and certainly not with customer cars", he concludes his story.
The fact that Abiteboul states that smaller teams with customer cars have no chance of podiums or victories is remarkable, because it puts him in a direct line with Horner. Red Bull's team boss thinks that this will be the case.