Renault in trouble? "Manufacturers can now simply withdraw''

Formula 1 is at a standstill and where you might think that this saves teams a lot of money, it actually costs a lot of money. Personnel still have to be paid and income is currently minimal.

So it's not surprising that Formula 1 is doing everything it can to get the sport going again as soon as possible and in the meantime is trying to help the smaller teams for sure. Now that teams aren't allowed to work on the car, nor are they allowed to continue developing in 2021, this will help the smaller teams to survive.

Especially Renault seems to be under a magnifying glass at the moment. Cyril Abiteboul may still express all hopes, but the goals have not been achieved and don't seem to be achieved in the short term. The question is therefore whether Renault wants to pump money into the sport any longer. Someone who knows all about that is Mario Theissen.

The German engineer was well on the way with BMW Sauber, but mid-2009 BMW pulled the plug on the project. ''I don't remember exactly how many days before, but we didn't get it from them very much in advance'', says Theissen to Motorsport.com.

Theissen certainly doesn't rule out a departure of current manufacturers. ''Of course it will have to wait and see how the situation unfolds to see what will be flown for Formula 1'', concludes the former top man of BMW.