McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh believes that Formula One will manage to lure some big-name manufacturers back into the sport, but he believes that the sport needs an 'environment of stability' in order to tempt them back.
The sport has suffered a number of manufacturer withdrawals in recent years, since enjoying something of a heyday in the mid 2000s.
Since the end of the 2008 season, BMW, Toyota and Honda have all withdrawn from the sport completely, while Renault have scaled back their F1 commitments from running a works team to simply being an engine supplier.
The sport has unveiled plans for a new 1.6-litre V6 engine formula to being from 2014, which the teams are hopeful will help to flood the grid with new blood.
However, the anticipated rush of new blood is yet to show any signs of happening, with mooted future F1 engine suppliers such as Porsche turning their attention to sportscar racing instead.
And Whitmarsh believes that the best way for Formula One to encourage more manufacturers is to make the sport "sustainable", as well as ensuring a period of "stability and entertainment"/
"The sport has to be sustainable, as Ferrari and ourselves can't just race each other," Whitmarsh bellowed in an interview with the official F1 website.
"We need all these other teams so sustainability is an important issue."
He added that: "We had the tobacco era, then the automotive era, who were natural investors, and now we don't have enough of them.
"We need to create an environment of governance, of regulations, of stability and entertainment which convinces the Hondas, Toyotas and BMWs that it was wrong to pull out.
"I believe that in time we will get them back and probably can add the Volkswagen/Audis, the Hyundais, whatever. We need to create an environment that pulls them in."
He said that he was happy with the progress the sport had made in making itself more entertaining, with the on-track action in 2011 improved using crazy Pirelli tyres and DRS wings, but he said that they needed to ensure they kept up with this push.
"We need to make sure that we maintain the show," he argued, "In previous years the complaint was always that the show was no good, but I believe that in the last two years we've responded responsibly, and actually we have had some incredible races.
"I think now we have a great show - and that's good so we can tick the box there. We have to make sure that we are relevant and maybe the new V6 engines do that."
However, Whitmarsh suggested that he was not keen on a return to the mid-2000 era of full manufacturer teams, citing the "mess" that these leave behind after a withdrawal in terms of trying to source a replacement team on the grid.
"If these automotive companies go for complete team ownership, then inherently that's unstable because when they go that leaves a mess," he muttered conspiratorially.
"We had that with Honda, Toyota and BMW, who came in for ownership and it has been difficult for the sport to manage that."
He went on: "If they come in as technical partners and then decide to quit that's an easier situation to manage.
"So I think the ideal model is that we create a situation where we are attractive, we're relevant and we are powerful and appropriate for automotive manufacturers to be involved in, because the natural affinity is automotive."
The FIA recruited three new teams for 2010 after the withdrawals of BMW and Toyota, ensuring that the grid did not plummet in number, but Team Lotus, HRT and Virgin have all struggled to be competitive compared to the teams they replaced.
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