F1 crisis: money worries and red tape harm US Grand Prix

With two teams in administration and America confused by the technical rules, F1 has a problem

Formula 1
New Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen of Finland behind the wheel of this year's model on day one of testing at Jerez. The new Ferrari features a distinctive nose, designed to conform with the new rules for the coming F1 season. Raikkonen and team-mate Fernan
(Image credit: Mark Thompson)

Formula 1 heads to the US this week in something close to dissarray, with two teams in administration and others reportedly close to the wall, audiences and sponsorship under pressure and a warning from Mario Andretti that the sport needs to "loosen up" on its obsession with technical specifications.

The Marussia and Caterham teams both went into adminsitration this week and this Sunday's American Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, will take place "against a background of spiralling costs, unequal payments to teams, falling crowds and TV audiences, as well as declining sponsorship and no agreement about capping costs", laments Paul Weaver in The Guardian. "The sport has reached the point of no return."

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