Sauber boss Monisha Kaltenborn thinks the financial struggles of F1's smaller teams proves something is "fundamentally wrong" with the sport.
The Swiss team has endured a troubled start to 2016, postponing the introduction its new car until the second week of winter testing and initially failing to pay its staff in full for February. This year Sauber, Force India and Manor asked for an advanced payment on monies owed by Formula One Management (FOM) for the upcoming campaign.
Sauber and Force India last year lodged a complaint to the European Union opposing F1's governance and payment structure and Kaltenborn's concerns have been heightened by the team's struggles in recent weeks.
"It doesn't really give you any comfort if you know that others are suffering as well," Kaltenborn is quoted as saying by Crash.net. "You can't look at yourself and give an excuse and say 'I can't do this and, by the way, five others can't do it as well' because you have to look at your own people. It unfortunately just says what situation the sport is in.
"This has got nothing to do with the product; these are commercial matters. Some of them are the result of the technical regulations at the moment and it's high time something is done about it.
"If you try to explain to people out there the kind of income the sport generates -- and it has, year by year, gone up if you look at the last few years -- yet so many teams are having issues, this can't be right. Something is fundamentally wrong in the sport."
Kaltenborn does not think Sauber will be in a position where it is unable to pay its staff again, putting down February's issues to "an unfortunate set of circumstances".
"We don't comment on our finances, and I will continue to keep it like this but, referring to the delay [with salaries], it was one delay, which was very regrettable from our side. It was just an unfortunate set of circumstances coming together at the time they came together. This should not happen anymore.
"I don't know what Force India's reasons were [for requesting FOM advance], but we all know that the first three to four months are the most cost-intensive, where you really have to have your car ready to hit the road.
"That's the system we all opted for many years ago when we said that FOM money kicks in later. That's something we all wanted. What happened with us was very unfortunate -- the way things came together and the timing particularly, which took us by surprise."