Williams: Reduced prize fund endangers 'an awful lot' of teams

Claire Williams has warned that "not just one or two teams" could drop out of Formula 1 if the prize fund drops significantly due to a shortened calendar.

Formula 1 is looking at a 15-18 race season in 2020, dropping from the 22 events originally scheduled, and the Williams says that the cost of this could be catastrophic for several teams.

"It is scary that we could lose not just one or two teams, but an awful lot of teams if we don't get back racing," the Williams deputy team principal told the Sky Sports F1 Vodcast.

"The financial model that we have in our sport means that we are all so reliant upon the money that we receive from the results that we get in the constructors' championship.

"You take that away, and coupled with the fact that sponsorship isn't at the level that it is in Formula 1 at the moment and in sports in general, that makes trying to find a budget to go racing really incredibly difficult."

Chase Carey has confirmed that the prize fund "is what it is" while remaining non-committal over the possibility of assisting teams that are struggling financially.

Liberty Media reported a loss of over $200 million in income revenue for the first quarter of 2020, a period which only covers the losses of the Australian and Bahrain Grands Prix, meaning that there could be worse news on the horizon for the sport.

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