Thursday March 23rd, 2000

Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone fears a quality gulf between the wealthy and poorer teams in motor racing.

"My concern is that if the teams slip behind with their technology or engines or something and suddenly three or four teams are not competitive, that's not good," he was quoted as saying in Thursday's Autosport magazine.

"You don't want six good teams and six teams that really and truly aren't competitive.

"It's no good if the manufacturers come in, which is super, and then three or four teams get left behind. We've got to urge the manufacturers perhaps to help a little bit in supplying engines," said Ecclestone.

The weekly magazine said he had also written to grand prix teams urging them to get together and find ways of improving the spectacle in Formula One and ensuring more teams could be truly competitive.

French carmaker Renault's announcement last week they were taking over the British-based Benetton team is likely to put a further squeeze on the smaller teams without exclusive engine supply deals.

Renault have supplied both Benetton and Arrows with their customer Supertec engines this season and have yet to announce what arrangements they plan for the future.

Ecclestone has said in the past that he would like engine manufacturers to supply more than one team each.