“In 2015 eight teams will contest the championship, with several teams entering three cars.”
The tweet immediately had insiders and media wondering who the departing three teams could be.
One might be Caterham, after its founder Tony Fernandes recently sold the team to a mysterious Swiss-Middle Eastern consortium.
“The economics of the sport is all wrong,” Fernandes, a Malaysian entrepreneur, told the Independent newspaper last week. “Bar Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren, everyone else is struggling.”
The latest rumor is that Caterham’s newly installed boss Christijan Albers quit this past week because promised funds from the new owners did not materialize. Caterham announced on Sunday that Dutchman Albers has indeed resigned to spend more time with his family, with Manfredi Ravetto taking over.
Also undoubtedly struggling is Marussia, who according to driver Max Chilton at Spa had resorted to trying to “sell my seat” to stay afloat.
And Lotus had been expected to be moving to end its current slump by installing Mercedes power for 2015, until speculation emerged the deal has been held up because a deposit to the German marque was not paid.
“No it’s not true,” deputy boss Federico Gastaldi told Britain’s Sky on Sunday. “We’re with Renault at the moment and we’re working for this year, not the next.”
Yet another struggling team is Sauber, but reports are now circulating that Canadian retail billionaire and unabashed motor racing fan Lawrence Stroll is buying the Swiss team.