Force India, the Formula One team, has welcomed Bernie Ecclestone's plan to introduce a standard engine for all cars in a move designed to make the sport more cost-efficient.

Ian Phillips, the team's director of business affairs, says the plan will help redress the balance in the sport. Under a Formula One “survival” plan being drawn up by Ecclestone, the sport’s commercial rights holder, and Max Mosley, the president of the FIA, the engines would each be designed to last for half the season and would potentially reduce the hugely expensive cost of powering the race cars by up to 90 per cent within two years.

The world governing body will meet all the members of the Formula One Teams' Association after the Chinese Grand Prix on October 19 to discuss ways of reducing costs.

"A redressing of the balance has been overdue for some time," Phillips said. "Probably for five years we have been overspending and it is time to pull back. The credit crunch has brought it to a head.

"I work for an independent team. It has had four owners in four years and each one of those has not been able to fulfil their desires financially in Formula One and have got out.

"But I think things have pretty much balanced out now."

At present, engine development in Formula One is frozen for five years in a regime that started last year. But they are still units that are designed by each team and they are able to be replaced after every two races, so teams and manufacturers are spending tens of millions of pounds each season on “drive-train costs”, which includes spending on engines and gearboxes.

Under the new proposals there will be one standard engine specification, which each team will be able to build, but it will be identical to those of their rivals. The only difference will be the manufacturer’s name on the block. Teams without manufacturer support will have access to the same engine through an independent contractor.

Phillips also praised Mosley, whose private life has been in the news more than his professional dealings in the last year having sued the News of the World over allegations they made against him, for taking a stand in trying to safeguard the sport.

"He wants to leave a legacy in motorsport that is not related to his personal life," he said. "If he carries through what he says he is going to do I have no doubt he will leave a legacy."