After the recent news that the two backmarker Marussia and Caterham teams were set to miss the next two Grand Prix's after going into administration, it is being reported in Germany that Sahara-Force India were close to missing out on this weekend's United States Grand Prix also.
The German publication Auto Motor Und Sport reported this week that the Sahara Force-India team only just made their scheduled payment to engine supplier and technical partner Mercedes before the October 27th deadline. A failure to pay Mercedes would have meant they would have also been on the sidelines for this weekend's race, which already has only 18 cars for the first time since 2005.
Whilst the financial struggles afflicting Marussia and Caterham is not a huge surprise considering their status in F1, rumours of financial trouble for the likes of Sauber and Sahara-Force India shows that cost cutting in F1 is something that needs to happen sooner rather than later if F1 is to preserve itself in it's current state.
It seems Sahara-Force India have dodged a bullet this weekend and will now have the latest engines and aerodynamic upgrades from Mercedes for the final Grand Prix's , which should boost them in their fight with McLaren for 5th in the constructors championship which is estimated to be worth $62 million dollars.
Thankfully F1 has avoided the potential embarrassment of another team forced off the grid at Austin this weekend with financial problems, although it's clear something needs to be done to reduce costs otherwise more teams will join Marussia and Caterham in administration. What are your thoughts on the current financial crisis plaguing F1?