they're practically out of brazil, too, since the whole show ships there straight from austin.
like i've said before, there's only 6 outfits in the world with both the will and the resources to compete in f1 - merc, ferrari, mclaren, red bull, williams and "lotus" (enfield, nee renault). everyone else is fighting for scraps to stay alive. this highlights a fundamental problem - the haves get more, the have-naughts get little, or nothing. the system perpetuates old-world plutocracies, and actively punishes any new blood trying to enter the sport. without a sweetheart deal, only a fool would enter f1. hrt, caterham and marussia will tell you that having such a deal put into law is still no guarantee.
meanwhile, f1 is losing popularity as it gets more artificial in the face of another year of domination by 1 team. fans are leaving for other motorsports, or just leaving.
my solution to this stagnant and terminal problem is simple, radical, and probably will never happen:
1. no conditional-use drs, and other stupid gimmicks
2. maximum sized grids
3. customer cars
4. kill the constructors' championship for a team title
5. less aero dependancy