McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has voiced his fears that F1 could turn into a two-tier championship thanks to the FIA's recently-annonunced budget cap for 2010, whereby teams abiding by the £40m budget would be given greater technical freedom to their free-spending rivals. The Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) has been working hard since its formation in 2008 to reduce the cost of competing in the sport, but the FIA's move to a budget cap has come quicker than expected, giving the association little time to respond.

“As a member of FOTA, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is of course supportive of FOTA's recent efforts to reduce costs in Formula 1,” said Whitmarsh this afternoon. “Equally, we recognise the excellent work done recently by the FIA in the area of cost-reduction.

“Having said all that, we understand that some teams' operational budgets may still be unnecessarily high in the challenging global economic situation in which we now find ourselves,” continued McLaren's team principal. “Nonetheless, we believe that the optimal solution - which may or may not include a budget cap, but which ideally would not encompass a two-tier regulatory framework - is most likely to be arrived at via measured negotiation between all parties.

“We at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes are happy to contribute to that process as and when required.”