Motorsport: F1’s BAR will not be replaced if banned

LONDON - Formula One motor racing teams will not be asked to provide more cars to make up the numbers if BAR are kicked out of the championship, the sport's commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone said today.  

"We'd have to run as it is. You can't suddenly make people run more cars," he said at a lunch to promote this year's French grand prix. 

"If they didn't enter the championship it would be a different story."  

The Honda-powered team are waiting to hear their fate after the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA), asked an appeal hearing in Paris to exclude them from the championship. 

The FIA said BAR had set out "deliberately to gain an illegitimate and unfair advantage over other teams, an act prejudicial to the interests of the competition and to the interests of motor sports generally". 

BAR have denied accusations that Briton Jenson Button drove an underweight car equipped with a hidden, secondary fuel tank to a third placing at the San Marino grand prix.  

The verdict is due tomorrow.  

Under the confidential commercial agreement that governs Formula One, teams must make up the shortfall if there are fewer than 20 cars entered at the start of a season. There are currently 20, including BAR.  

However, McLaren, Red Bull and Jordan already run three cars in Friday practice as part of regulations aimed at helping teams that finish the championship outside the top four.  

The FIA is also seeking a one million euro fine ($1.79 million) for BAR.  

- REUTERS