Chargement ...

Ex F1 sponsor says ’real risk’ teams will fold

"This situation has an impact on sponsor funding"

Chargement ...

A former F1 sponsor says there is "a real risk" that teams will go bust amid the coronavirus crisis.

For years, Finnish billionaire Antti Aarnio-Wihuri supported Valtteri Bottas in Formula 1.

He admitted to Iltalehti newspaper that he is worried about the way the sport - like many other sports and business entities around the world - have shut down.

"I don’t know anything about what’s going on this year," said Aarnio-Wihuri. "But it looks a lot like there will be no races in 2020."

He said he is also worried about drivers in lower categories, suggesting that it "is quite possible that the careers of some young drivers will end this season".

"This situation has an impact on sponsor funding. There will certainly be effects for motorsport. There is a real risk that a few teams will go down because of this.

"But how many and whether they will be replaced, I can’t say anything about it."

Aarnio-Wihuri says he has seen many crises in motor racing before, but "this looks worse than anything else".

"This is a global crisis. In the past it was much more local but now we are all in this situation together."

He said two people among his 5000 staff at the Wihuri Group tested positive for the virus.

Chargement ...

«Kubica regains ’a lot of desire’ for F1

Schumacher ’failed’ in Mercedes comeback - Weber»

F1 - FOM - Liberty Media


>More British pundits face axe over bias accusations

>Europe steps away from Andretti-Cadillac saga

>Chaos breaking out inside F1, FIA organisations

>Maffei out, question-mark over Domenicali’s F1 future

>F1 confirm plans for first ever season launch event

More on F1 - FOM - Liberty Media

Formula 1 news


>Red Bull to ’evaluate’ Perez seat after Abu Dhabi

>Williams could be down to one car in Qatar, Abu Dhabi

>Drivers happy with new F1 race director

>Mercedes ’lucky’ to reunite with Bottas in 2025

>Cadillac F1 announcement now ’inevitable’ - Brown

More Formula 1news