Brawn: F1 needs to close gap between teams

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According to former Formula 1 boss Ross Brawn, small teams should be offered more financially so they can close the performance gap on the bigger teams.

Brawn’s comments come after minnow team Manor Racing went into administration after failing to gain financial investment. The British-based outfit are in danger of losing their Formula 1 status.

"One of the objectives should be looking at what can be done to reduce the margin between a small team and a big team," Brawn told ESPN.

"And can things be done to reduce the performance gain that comes from the level of investment the big teams can make.

"How can you level that? I think it's an interesting reference point for F1 to make small teams viable and make them reasonably competitive so they can pull the odd result out of the bag — it makes it exciting."

The former Ferrari man also added that smaller teams are forced to take on drivers that are not necessarily what they are looking for because they need the investment.

"Small teams depend so much on commercial backing for their drivers that it influences the decisions they have to make on their drivers,” he said.

"I think that's another element of a healthy Formula 1, to make the small teams viable."