Max Mosley has again predicted that another manufacturer will withdraw from Formula One if car sales continue to fall.
"We are in unknown territory," FIA president admits
Max Mosley has again predicted that another Formula One manufacturer will withdraw from the sport if the global financial crisis continues to impact on car sales.
The FIA president voiced the same warning in the wake of Honda's decision to put their team up for sale following a sudden slump in car sales.
Friday's announcement by Honda placed a question mark over whether F1's five remaining manufacturers - Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Toyota and BMW - might follow suit.
Speaking at the Motor Sport Forum in Monaco on Wednesday, Mosley re-iterated his warning and predicted that further falls in sales would lead to one of the five pulling out.
"I don't think F1 is teetering one way or the other in terms of bust or survival, but if things get worse in the car industry then it could be," he said.
"At the moment nobody can say we are seeing the bottom and that it will improve.
"All the stock markets are up in the last two or three days, and they may think things are going to get better.
"They may be right, but then again they may be wrong. The thing is, we literally don't know.
"If things get better for the car industry, then that's fine, we are through the worst. We would just need to sort out Formula One.
"If things get worse, then our problems will get worse.
"But at present I haven't heard anything specific as to whether another manufacturer will pull out. Again, I don't think anybody knows.
"But if the situation does get worse for the car manufacturers then we will lose another one.
"Whether that would be before the season starts is difficult to say. We are in unknown territory."
Meeting
Mosley is due to meet the remaining nine members of the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) in Monaco later on Wednesday to discuss his proposal for a standardised engine in order to cut costs.
It is understood the required number of four teams are ready to agree to a deal that would see them pay only £5.49 million per season for three years from 2010 - around 10 percent of their annual outlay in recent years.
However, he added that he was willing to listen to alternative proposals from FOTA.
"We are in discussion mode at the moment," Mosley said.
"A lot of the teams would like a base engine, but the manufacturers may also make an offer which could be interesting, so we will see how it develops.
"It would be better if they accepted the proposal, but you cannot pre-judge what other people come up with.
"They might come up with something completely new that we haven't thought of, so one has to keep an open mind.
"Today is make-your-mind-up time, but I don't yet know what they are going to put forward.
"If it looks good, then that's fine. I just want to make sure we are not going to wander into a catastrophic situation without knowing what we are doing."
Support
Regarding Honda's decision to withdraw, Mosley also said he believed the Japanese manufacturer would continue to support any new buyer of the team during 2009.
Senior personnel at the Brackley-based outfit claim to have had "serious" interest from three parties and hope to announce a takeover before Christmas.
"If a serious buyer came along then Honda would help to keep it going," Mosley confirmed.
"Any person would then be on their own in 2010, but they would get some help in 2009. That's my understanding.
"It becomes a reasonable proposition for an entrepreneur, providing he is satisfied we (the FIA) are going to get the costs down in 2010."
