Force India boss Vijay Mallya has called on Bernie Ecclestone to find a way of making Formula One "un-crap" if the F1 CEO is intent talking down the sport.
Ecclestone was quoted by AFP as saying he had been given a "crap product to sell" ever since the introduction of the V6 turbo power units in 2014. Ecclestone has been outspoken on several occasions about the current engines and Mallya, when asked about the quote, challenged F1's promoter to make the sport better.
"How would I respond to the chief executive's comment that he had a crappy product to sell?" Mallya said. "He shouldn't be selling the product if he thought it was crap. But considering that he sells the product - that he calls crap and makes billions out of it - he needs to work with the participants to un-crap it!"
Mallya also argued that the media often puts a negative spin on the sport and that the main issue facing F1 is the sustainability of its teams.
"Formula One is perhaps the most exciting sport in the world. Probably has the highest viewership of all sports and, if Formula One is made sustainable for all participants I think the negativity will be removed. Having said that, the media can present two points of view: either they can say that the sport is very boring because the two Mercedes cars are quicker than everybody else by miles, or, they can say 'wow, Mercedes did a fantastic job'. It's a question of the media's option on how to present it.
"Having said that, I believe that all the positives of Formula One as a sport will be given more prominence if the fundamental issue, which everybody is speculating about - I'm sure many of us get asked these questions all the time - about 'are you going to be around next year?' This is a burning issue which teams themselves discuss at every possible opportunity and in every possible meeting, whether inside the strategy group or outside. So, as I said before, at this very press conference. If the stability of all participants in Formula One is addressed as a matter of priority, we will have more exciting racing and we will get a lot more positive media."