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F1 bosses take wait-and-see approach to Brexit

Mirko Stange/Sutton Images

Claire Williams and Christian Horner say it is too early to properly judge the impact Britain's decision to leave the European Union will have on Formula One.

Last week the British public voted to leave the EU, triggering a downturn in the British pound sterling and wiping $2 trillion off worldwide markets. Though the sterling and business markets have stabilised somewhat in the days since, there remains uncertainty over how and when the UK will actually leave the union, with the ruling Conservative Party currently electing a new leader to negotiate the exit.

Though many F1 teams are based in the UK, Williams is unsure what the immediate impact will be.

Asked how it will affect Williams as a team, she told Sky Sports F1: "Lots of businesses have come out saying they've got to give it a bit of time to stabilise, both politically and economically, but of course there are going to be impacts with the fluctuations in the exchange rate. Fortunately for us we do our business in a variation between dollars, sterling and euros.

"But when it comes to euros ... As a main example, we pay for engines in euros so there's some knock on effects there that you would expect."

However, Williams thinks the way payments are made in Formula One should balance out the positives and negatives for the all the teams on the grid.

"Cost of travel, movement of our people, not just going to races and test sessions but also employment, looking at staff and recruiting staff within the EU, is that going to have an impact on that? So for us it's waiting, biding our time just to see where this all falls out. But I think the cost is definitely going to be there for us. But then you can out-weigh that by the dollar as well because we're paid our prize money in dollars by Mr Ecclestone."

Red Bull boss Horner says the real impacts are not going to be known until the UK's exit plan becomes more clear.

"I think it has made F1, because a majority of the income is in dollars and Euros, it has made us cheaper in many respects with the way the sterling is at the moment," he told British media in Spielberg this week. "But that will negate itself with other costs or if you are importing goods into Europe or working with foreign suppliers, so it will have pluses and minuses, I think it is a question of let's wait and see. The bottom line is for the foreseeable future it is not going to make any significant impact."

With the UK still unsure who will lead the nation out of the union following prime minister David Cameron's resignation, Horner joked that it could do with some help from F1's most famous negotiator.

"I was quite surprised at the outcome of the vote. But it is what it is. Now it is important that whoever goes in to negotiate does a Bernie Ecclestone!"