McLaren CEO points to confusion over rulebook.

McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh has confirmed that the Woking concern was proceeding with a potential customer car supply to Formula One newcomer Prodrive until the programme foundered on a bed of changed opinions.

While admitting that, personally, he felt that F1 should be about individual teams building their own cars, Whitmarsh accepted that the opportunity to supply a client with a chassis was not only good business, but also good for the health of the sport. It was disappointing, therefore, when the Prodrive deal fell apart.

"I think, philosophically, F1 should be about constructors who design their own cars, but I think it is well-publicised that we take a very pragmatic view," Whitmarsh told the assembled media during Friday's press conference at Sepang.

"When it looked, a year ago, as though you could have a customer car in F1, we worked very strongly with Prodrive. We checked back with the FIA before we embarked on that programme, [but] opinions changed during the course of the year. Otherwise, possibly, we would be here supporting a customer team ourselves.

"We can't be too hypocritical about that. The reality is we need to have a strong grid in F1. We need independent teams like Gerhard [Berger]'s [Toro Rosso] to survive and I think it is up to the bigger teams, and to the automotive manufacturers and the FIA, to work together to make sure that we have got a sport that can keep that many teams in it."

While BMW Sauber's Mario Theissen offered the view that 'it would not be a good thing to have two classes of teams on the grid - teams who go for victory and other teams who just support their number one team' and admitted that he was happy that the sport appeared to have come down on the side of not having customer cars, Whitmarsh attempted to clarify exactly where the situation had foundered.

"I think it was a question of interpretation," he explained, "The current Concorde Agreement, as far as we were concerned, and I think as far as the FIA were concerned, was expiring at the end of the year [2007]. Concorde had the provisions [for outlawing customer cars] that you referred to but there were others who argue, and I think argued successfully, that the provisions should continue because they'd signed various agreements.

"You've got to remember various teams had signed various different agreements with the FIA and with FOM, and various people took interpretations as to how we should go forward. It was our view that, if there was a possibility to supply a second team, we would do so, but, if people eventually told us it wasn't [possible], then we'd accept that as well.

"I think, historically, the issue that there has to be constructors was defined within the Concorde Agreement and, of course, the Concorde Agreement was coming to an end at the end of last year and that's why there was a difference of opinion. There were some teams that believed that the conditions of Concorde continued in 2008 and beyond and some that didn't.

"We sought clarification, [and] I think we did it in a very open manner with everybody. We explained that, philosophically, we had concerns about the second tier teams in Formula One but, pragmatically, we saw there was an opportunity to help develop teams that would be successful and teams that would reinforce the grid, and that's why we went down that path.

"I think, ultimately, different opinions prevailed and we've accepted that and I think we've got to move on. I think, often in Formula One, you can easily become embroiled in all sorts of different views, and I think one of the lessons of last year, for McLaren in particular, was you've got to move on from all these things and we're competing, happy to compete in Formula One as it is today. From time to time, various people have different views as to how Formula One should develop and, maybe, it has to change in direction. Maybe customer teams will be accepted in. I think it's the discussion that Formula One has to have."

The conversation then turned to the exact state of the Concorde Agreement which, even at the start of the 2008 season, remains largely unsettled.

"I think, as people know, [there is] a range of arrangements between teams and FOM," he commented, "I'm sure they will converge and they will be in agreement at some stage during this year. It isn't ideal, [but] none of us would be here racing unless we were happy with the terms and let's hope they get a little more clarified and unified as the year goes on, which I'm sure they will."