No financial crisis, no shortage of sponsors in F1: Ecclestone

The most expensive sporting event Formula One did have a brush with the recession in the West but sponsors are coming back and there is no financial crisis, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone said today.

"I don't know about India but most of the world is in recession. Sponsorship was obviously a problem as a lot of big names were reconsidering but it is better now and sponsors are coming back," he said.

"There is no financial crisis now and there is no shortage of sponsors in Formula One," Ecclestone said.

At the same time, he expressed eagerness to explore more corporate entities in India, the second fastest growing economy in the world, saying the more the better.

He was responding to a query on whether F1 would be looking beyond Vijay Mallya for sponsoring teams.

"When I come to India in October. I would meet with people and see what is the best way to move forward," he said.

The recession took a toll in this year's F1 with Honda pulling out and BMW announcing that they would not race from next year. Toyota is also uncertain to return to F1 circuit once the season ends.

In view of this, Formula One authorities had initially contemplated a cap on expenditure of all F1 teams, even though frontline teams like Ferrari and McLaren were against the move. But the proposal has temporarily been shelved.