Super Aguri's departure from the Formula One championship yesterday has left the sport with just 10 teams and no sign of any new entrants on the horizon.

Commercial uncertainty, doubts about the sport's future rules and the credit crunch that has gripped the global economy over the past year have only served as a deterrent to potential newcomers.

The sport's landscape has changed considerably since Super Aguri, let down by a key sponsor last year and owing backers Honda huge sums, entered Formula One in 2006 on a wave of optimism. The idea then was for Aguri to compete as a Honda B team with FIA chief Max Mosley saying that so-called 'customer cars' were the future of the sport.

Prodrive had secured the coveted 12th and final slot, apparently beating off 10 other bidders, with the intention of entering this year with McLaren cars and Mercedes engines. A1 Grand Prix organiser Tony Teixeira was looking into a similar arrangement with Ferrari and Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso.

However, that all fell apart last October when former champion Williams challenged the legality of Prodrive's entry and made clear it would fight all the way to the civil courts.

Williams argued that teams that do not make or design their cars should not be allowed to score points or benefit from television revenues earmarked for constructors.

"Obviously if a team comes into Formula One without any investment in the staffing and equipment that we've built up over the last 25 years and gains access to a (customer) car ... then it's a serious commercial threat to us," Williams co-founder Patrick Head said last year.

Prodrive subsequently announced that it would not be taking up the 12th slot while Teixeira said that his talks with Toro Rosso ended late last year when it became apparent that customer cars would not be allowed from 2010.

"If the rules change, I would look for a spot in F1," added the South African. "If the rules don't change, there's nothing in it for us."

Honda's eagerness to support Aguri waned when it realized the problems facing its works team. New Honda F1 team principal Ross Brawn and chief executive Nick Fry are determined to get back among the frontrunners and do not want any distractions or dilution of the parent company's resources.

The FIA is eager to bring the costs down, introducing long-life engines and four-race gearboxes but a proposal to impose budget caps on teams is still some way off.

In the meantime, the sport is dominated by the major manufacturers. The last independent team to win a race was Williams in 2004.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily May 7, 2008)