Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn has criticised Marco Mattiacci for his stance on the current financial state of F1.

When it was put to Mattiacci on Sunday evening that the impression being given off is that the bigger teams don't need those further down the grid in the sport, he replied: "It's not to define middle teams or small teams, Formula One needs competitive teams.

"There are many corporations around the world and many big brands who should capitalise on a phenomenal motorsport platform like Formula One is.

"Entrepreneurs have to find a reason why ... we're doing an excellent job with Haas but it's very clear what he wants to do. He has a long term plan, project, solid investment and a good reason - a business reason - to get in to Formula One.

"We need competitive teams. I'm not here to say small or middle, we need competitive teams with a solid business background and a solid financial background."

However, when made aware of Mattiacci's comments, Kaltenborn countered that all the current teams in F1 have to be open to change, saying Ferrari's business model is not bulletproof.

"Wasn't it Marco who also said that he's getting questions on ROI (return on investment) from his partners?" Kaltenborn asked. "How does he plan to keep that so well going if the way things are going here? What if his partners - who are probably paying a lot - come and say 'What's my return on investment with results? What's my return on investment with viewers going down, with the show not being attractive?'



"So I wonder if his business model is going to work if he didn't have the backing of those kind of partners or a manufacturer? Because I think if the manufacturer wouldn't put that money in there you would have a business model that is defunct. And I know what I'm talking about."