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F1 must cut costs to keep full grid - Todt

FIA president Jean Todt is attending the Italian Grand Prix © Sutton Images

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FIA president Jean Todt says it is vital Formula One cuts cost in order to keep all the teams in the sport.

In recent years cost control has been conducted by the teams via the Resource Restriction Agreement (RRA), but disagreements over how to move that forward has left the sport without a clear plan of how to continue to reduce costs. Todt believes it is vital costs are cut and says it is for the teams, FIA and the commercial rights holder to find a balance.

"We must reduce the costs in order to keep everybody on board," he said at Monza on Saturday. "It's up to the teams to work with our people and with the commercial rights holder. We need to agree what to do because otherwise it will be unsustainable."

One way forward is to bring the RRA, or similar cost control measures, under the jurisdiction of the FIA. When asked what the future for cost cutting would involve, Todt responded: "Clearly the FIA is a regulator and legislator of the sport. My job as president of the FIA is to make sure that that's the way it goes and as long as I'm president of the FIA that's the way it will go."

Todt also outlined his vision for what Formula One and other motorsports should be focusing on moving forward.

"With motor sport I've always said that our priorities are to reduce the cost, improve the show, implement new technologies and have a vision for the future because the world is changing, and act as much as we can for society on road safety. We have been doing so much in racing but we still need to do work on improving safety in racing and to contribute to society in road safety. All the things that we can do in those frames we will do it."

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