20/10/2015
NEWS STORY
His 85th birthday just over a week away, Bernie Ecclestone remains as feisty as ever.
Ahead of the back-to-back races which see Mexico return to the calendar after a 23-year hiatus, the F1 supremo has sent out a clear warning to Dietrich Mateschitz as the Austrian billionaire ponders the future of his two teams.
Without an engine deal for 2016, certainly one that ticks all the required boxes, Mateschitz is said to be close to pulling the plug on both Red Bull and Toro Rosso.
Unhappy with Renault, Mateschitz has unsuccessfully courted both Mercedes and Ferrari, and with neither willing to yield to his (excessive) demands, looks set to walk away from the sport.
However, Ecclestone has warned that such a move would not go unchallenged, reminding Mateschitz that his teams are contracted to continue racing until 2020.
"Red Bull could stand up in court and say: 'Yes, we have a commitment, we do, but we haven't got an engine'," Ecclestone told the Independent.
"My argument would be: 'You signed the contract to compete. You should have made sure when you signed the contract that you had an engine. Your team was supposed to do this.'"
Echoing comments made by Max Mosley at the weekend, when the former FIA president warned that the engine manufacturers now control the sport, Ecclestone said: "If Ferrari only agreed to supply one customer engine, Mercedes only agreed to supply one, nobody would have any engines. That's exactly what the situation is. We need an independent engine supplier. I've been on about this now for a year and a half."