Opinion | Formula One not immune to global financial pressures
Seven out of 11 groups are reportedly facing difficulty staying in the black, which is evident in the shrinking line-up on the grid
This weekend's grand prix in Hungary is being held in what once was a potato field. Not perhaps the image one would expect or desire for the glamorous world of Formula One. As an outsider looking in, you'd think the global economic problems encountered in the past few years had not bothered the gold-plated bubble that is the F1 paddock.
You would be wrong. According to reports, seven of the 11 teams face a financial crisis. For every Ferrari or McLaren, there is a Marussia or the now defunct HRT.
You know things are getting bad when Peter Sauber is reduced to admitting he can't pay his suppliers and his star driver, Nico Hulkenburg, may have to leave. It was rumoured the German driver was unpaid for several months. The Swiss team owner is a dignified man with a well-honed sense of humour and no-one wanted to see him in that situation.
Fortunately, the Hinwil-based team have been bailed out by Russian backers. The mood music has completely changed at Sauber, although it might come at the price of having a Russian driver foisted on them next year.
Sauber's issues date back to when BMW dumped the team in a hurry and Peter Sauber dipped into his pocket. The fact that one team's future seems secure does nothing to reassure fans about the prospect of a shrinking grid as other teams go to the wall.
Matters are not helped by a new raft of rules next season, including new engines. It's a whole new layer of costs being put on teams, and although the idea is to reduce the amount of cash splashed out in the long term, it isn't going to help teams in the short term.
