Ecclestone reveals how he would ‘completely reshape’ F1

Bernie Ecclestone says he would radically change Formula 1 in the wake of the coronavirus crisis to ensure all teams survive and also improve the show.

F1 faces a heavily delayed start to the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which former supremo Ecclestone believes has become a serious threat to the sport’s existence amid growing concerns surrounding how hard teams will be hit financially.

The summer shutdown - which traditionally takes place in August - has been brought forward and extended, while the 2021 technical regulation overhaul has been delayed until 2022 in a bid to ease the financial burden on teams, but Ecclestone says he would go even further.

“I wouldn't change the rules for three years,” Ecclestone told The Daily Mail. “Liberty need to completely reshape things.

“The biggest change I would make is to create a teams' championship. You would still have the drivers' championship for everyone and a constructors' championship for the big four or whatever.

“Then I would give the less well-off teams two chassis, two engines for the season and let them run for £30m a year. I would then have rules and regulations — taking in the weight of the cars and engine capacity — that I knew full well meant the teams with that sort of budget would have a good chance of getting on the podium and with luck win a race.

“At the end of the year the team that has done best on that budget would win the teams' championship.”

But asked if he would ever consider returning to buy F1 back, Ecclestone replied: “No chance.”

F1 remains determined to hold around 15-18 races even if the season cannot start until October and runs into January next year. Sporting boss Ross Brown says championship officials are discussing “every permutation” including looking at closed-door events.