Former McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh says he is saddened by the current state of Formula One and fears it will "crash and burn before it gets turns around".
Whitmarsh left McLaren in early 2014 and has not made any F1 appearances in the paddock since. He has maintained a close interest in the sport since his departure, however, and believes the current problems it is facing might be necessary on the road to recovery.
"I love Formula One and I love McLaren," Whitmarsh told Reuters earlier this week. "I was there 25 years. I am saddened by it.
"I am staying away as much as I can, and try not to comment on it, but I'm saddened by what's happening in the sport. I think it will crash and burn before it gets turned around, in my view. It will do eventually but I'm sad to see it go through the process it's going through."
This week FIA president Jean Todt played down the severity of F1's current problems, saying the sport was suffering from a "headache" rather than "cancer". Whitmarsh, who has teamed up with Adrian Newey in spearheading Ben Ainslie Racing's challenge for sailing's America's Cup, thinks the sport has failed to adjust to the changing times.
"If you look at the cycle, you had the sport as it was 30 years ago, then the tobacco era which was the big growth spurt and the automotive era when we had at one time seven of the nine largest automotive companies. Then that went away with the economic crisis and it's diversified but in order to diversify it also has to recognise, which it's struggling with, that it has to be doing it at a slightly different level.
"And it's also got to be a bit more equitable in terms of distribution. It is an ongoing argument and unfortunately at the moment it's led itself into a very difficult place."