New teams’ budgets not sufficient - Ecclestone

The struggles of F1’s small new teams is proof that EUR45 million is not enough to run a competitive team, according to Bernie Ecclestone.

Ferrari recently slammed Lotus and Virgin for lagging the timesheets in the February tests, while HRT is yet to turn a single lap.

"Ferrari is right," F1 chief executive Ecclestone is quoted as saying by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

When the three new teams signed up for the 2010 season, they believed former FIA president Max Mosley’s rules would afford them advantages for sticking to a low budget limit.

The subsequent political war, led by Ferrari’s Luca di Montezemolo, means they are now pitching their small budgets against the might of the establishment.

Ecclestone admits that the 45m cap "would have given them a chance".

"I always warned that a budget limit would not work. Now the new teams find that their budgets are not sufficient," the Briton added.

The garage doors of the new Spanish team HRT, whose 2010 car is yet to turn a lap, were firmly closed on Wednesday.

Bruno Senna admitted that Friday will be devoted to mainly installation laps.

"We can think about the setup early on Saturday," said the Brazilian.

"I just hope we can get the car onto the track and eliminate as many problems as possible."