When 1Malaysia Racing Team Sdn Bhd (1MRT) announced its start-up capital of RM168 million for its Lotus F1 Racing team, which will take part in next year's Formula One (F1) Grand Prix, questions were raised whether the budget was sufficient.

This is more so as the company, which is financed by three individual investors and without any capital injection from the government, has estimated that the team's annual budget will only be around RM308 million.

This is far from F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone's estimation that a F1 team needs at least USD300 million (over RM1 billion) to fully participate in all the 17 or 18 races per F1 season.

With such a small budget, can the 1MRT take part in all F1 races next season or will it be just one race at the Malaysian F1 Grand Prix at the Sepang Circuit?

NONE One of the directors of the 1MRT, Kamarudin Meranun ( left ) however said that the Lotus F1 Racing was created to win races and not to be an also-ran.

In a recent interview with Bernama , he admitted that the budget was rather small but said that the company had its own ways of overcoming the lack of funds.

He said that the 1MRT was now looking for sponsors from various corporate bodies including government-linked companies (GLCs).

Several parties had recently questioned the move by 1MRT to seek sponsorships from GLCs such as Petronas, saying that the 1MRT was a private company and that asking for sponsor from Petronas was akin to asking for money from the people.

PM najib formula one F1 1malaysia launch "What is wrong with 1MRT asking for sponsors from GLCs like Petronas?" asked Kamarudin.

He said that if the 1MRT had no rights to source for sponsorship from Petronas, critics should first look at the facts.

Petronas was once a partner to Sauber Petronas F1 team and later a premium partner to BMW-Sauber.

"If Petronas can sponsor a foreign F1 team, why the national petroleum company should not sponsor a local team?" he asked.

On the decision by several major F1 teams like BMW, Honda and Toyota to pull out of next season's race, stating financial constraints as among the reasons, Kamarudin said they might be giant teams but teams with smaller budget such as Williams had remained in the race.

"How is it possible that a team with small budget can continue to compete in the race? There must be a certain strategy," he said.

The 1MRT, he said, was also coming up with strategies on how to manage the team within the small budget and one of the ways would be to minimise the cost.

Kamarudin said that many experts - who were excited at the prospect of working with the 1MRT - were willing to receive lower pay than what they were currently getting.

"When the 1MRT put up an advertisement in September to fill up 225 posts, we received over 6,500 applications and most of them are from Malaysian engineering experts currently working abroad.

tony fernandes one malaysia f1 team speak 1 "They are excited with the Malaysian-owned Lotus F1 Racing and are willing to work at a lower pay. This will enable us to lower the cost," he said.

He said team principal Tony Fernandes also owned budget airline AirAsia and this would pave the way for lower logistical costs to bring equipment and 1MRT crew members for the whole duration of the F1 season.

600 million will be watching

He said that some 600 million people from around the world would be watching the race.

"Although the 1MRT is privately-financed, imagine the returns to Malaysia.

"When the Lotus F1 Racing team starts the race in Bahrain in March, some 600 million people who are watching the race will know that the team belongs to Malaysia," he said.

It would also be a good promotion for the country's national car Proton, he added.

He said that the International Federation of Automobile's (FIA) decision to give the 13th slot to Lotus F1 Racing was itself a vote of confidence to the Malaysian-owned F1 team.

"There are many other teams keen on participating in the 2010 race but the FIA only allowed a total of 14 teams," he said.

He said that the Lotus F1 Racing should be seen as a pride of the nation and not that of individuals.

"This project, to a certain extent, is similar to the Angkasawan project. There were many Malaysians wanting to become astronauts but in the end only one Malaysian (Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Sheikh Mustapha) went to space, but pride is shared by all Malaysians.

"The same goes for the Lotus F1 Racing. This is a project of the Malaysian people and its success at the podium will be shared by all. Bear in mind that we start from scratch, from the expertise right to the F1 race car design," he said.