Following on from Cosworth's confirmation that up to 40 per cent of its staff will lose their jobs at the end of the year,
FIA president
Max Mosley has confirmed thousands more jobs could be lost as a result of the sweeping cost-reducing measures being enforced in Formula One.
Furthermore, according to the
Independent, British workers are most at risk from the job losses as seven of the eleven teams are based in the UK, each employing between 500 and 1,000 people working in chassis and engine development.
The single biggest reason why jobs are on the line is the controversial engine freeze to be enforced for next season, as it will reduce the need to employ people to develop engines over the year, with Cosworth, who supply
Williams and Scuderia Toro Rosso, the first to reveal that they will have to lose 40 per cent of around 300 people they currently employ.
Max Mosley admitted he realises the changes, which are also set to include standardised parts from 2009, will have obvious ramifications, but insisted that this is part of a bigger picture for the future of Formula One, to increase competitiveness by reducing budgets.
"There are bound to be redundancies," Mr Mosley said. "If you employ 1,000 people to put two cars on the grid 19 times a year, and you can do the same thing with 200 people, at the same level... well then, those 800 people, they haven't got a job."
"The target is to set the budget for a top team, which is currently spending €300m (£205m), to €100m, and then a small team could be competitive with €40m or €50m," he continued.
Although different teams spend more than others on employment costs, it remains the largest expense in Formula One, with between £160million and £200million thought to the figure paid out by some squads.
