Oliver WhiteScuderia Ferrari met this morning at their Maranello headquarters to discuss the team’s future involvement in Formula One. The meeting came about after the FIA introduced a voluntary £40m budget cap in order to reduce costs and bring the level of entry down in the sport. However, like Toyota and Red Bull, Ferrari are not happy with the two-tier formula this would create have have finally stated that if the proposal remains unchanged they will not enter the 2010 championship.
Ferrari are the sport’s oldest and most successful team, having entered cars in the inaugural 1950 season when the World Drivers Championship was first run. Eight years later, when the World Constructors Championship was introduced, the formation of the team was complete and the company began to grow into not just a racing team, but also a sports car manufacturer, developing and building luxury cars for use on the public roads.
The company is one of the most recognised brands in the auto industry and their products are sought after by almost anyone who has even a passing interest in cars. Posters of Ferraris adorn the walls of many young children the world over and they always gain attention when driven around in public. Gestione Sportiva, the Formula One side of the company, is one of the most popular teams in the sport, and their drivers are adored by fans not just in Italy by the Tifosi, but in just about every country on the planet.
The same rules for all teams, stability of regulations, the continuity of the FOTA’s endeavours to methodically and progressively reduce costs, and governance of Formula 1 are the priorities for the future.
If these indispensable principles are not respected and if the regulations adopted for 2010 will not change, then Ferrari does not intend to enter its cars in the next Formula 1 World Championship. Ferrari Statement.
However, the debate continues as to whether or not Formula One can continue without its most prestigious team. Some say, and I agree with, that Formula One can survive and flourish without Ferrari. There have been other big name and high profile disappearances of teams in the past, Lotus, Brabham and Tyrrell being just three. The point isn’t necessarily about the future of Formula One in relation to its competitors. The point should be about the future of Formula One in relation to its rules and management.
From a commercial perspective, Bernie Ecclestone would like for Ferrari to remain as they make him a lot of money, bringing in fans and helping to put bums-on-seats at the races. But Max Mosley isn’t one to buckle under this pressure and feels that the sport can and will continue should the red cars not enter.
I guess only time will tell; the deadline for entry for the 2010 championship falls at the end of May, and currently only those teams whose businesses rely on Formula One will be entering (ie. Williams). Talks are due to be held between FOTA and the FIA, and in all honesty this issue will very likely be resolved. For the mean time though, it doesn’t look particularly pretty, nor does it look calm and peaceful. The 2009 championship may be exhilarating on the track, but in the boardrooms it is an entirely different story.
[…] Toro Rosso followed suit and stated that unless the rules change, they’re out as well. And now Ferrari have gone on record with a similar […]
Well I hope rules don’t change and we finally can get a new F1 (another name of course) without those old halfwits that are the rulers of the FIA.
For sure, the loss of Ferrari will be greater than any other team for the championship. If Ferrari goes, all will follow.
Even Williams, Brawn and Force India (and to a lesser extent, McLaren)? Do you think they would either jack it in or set up a separate series with the manufacturers?
I don’t think they’ll do anything because if they’d do, then they’d do it a long time ago.
But yes, I believe that if Ferrari goes, all will follow. After all, you can’t really have Formula 1 without Ferrari. Sadly, we could drop any single team and all would stay more or less the same, but Ferrari is in F1’s blood.
I wish they’d all set up a separate series, get rid of FIA and its nonsense and old dinosaurs trying to keep up… I think even Bernie would join them…
Ferrari can go anytime no matter what they have done or not done in the past. A company is managed by a group of people and this group take the decisions they believe suits the best the company’s interest at a given time and under given circumstances.
Now, I do not believe Ferrari wants to quit F1 now but they want to stretch their muscles (is that what you say in english?)
Now “my” little clue… 13.1 of the F1 Sporting Regulations explicitely say the entries must be given to the FIA in the period 22-19 may 2009 but immediately after it says “Applications at other times will only be considered if a place is available” and I believe that is the trick 😉
So I believe the constructors are not closing any door, but the FIA and the FOM might look a little bit stupid if on the 29th of may they have only 3 or 4 “small” teams…
Not sure the GP organisers and all sponsors will be crazy about such a situation… That might be the price the FIA and the FOM might have to pay for being so arrogant.
We’ll see….
Ago, I believe the term you are looking for is “Flex their muscles” 🙂
It is indeed difficult to think of F1 without Ferrari. It is obvious that a huge mass of the sport’s fans are tied up with the club and F1 overall would lose a good deal of interest with many current fans. It is in the best interest of everyone involved with F1 to ensure that the team remains in F1 for the foreseeable future.
I really don’t think the teams (including Ferrari) are going to pull out completely over the budget cap. The current state of affairs seems to me to be a form of gamesmanship on the part of the teams against Max, who despite having the best intentions in cost-cutting, is really trying to force his hand with little regard for the bigger picture.
However, if Ferrari or any of the other manufacturers pulled out, the sport would still go on and be somewhat successful. There would be plenty of other teams lining up, and we could still see a good product on the tracks. Hopefully it will not come to this, and all will be well when it comes time to enter for 2010.
Yes it is. Flex your muscles is the more common phrase, but ultimately means the same. And that is what Ferrari, Luca di Montezemolo and therefore FOTA are doing right now. They are flexing their muscles. And for this I support them. They do have muscles and I do not believe they flex them enough against the FIA. After all, it is the teams that make up Formula One.
A trick indeed. However, with many companies supposedly interested in taking a step into the deep end, one has to wonder if there will be space for Ferrari should they try and call Mosley’s bluff, even with the recent increase in applicants to 13 teams. What if they get left out the cold because Mosley is okay with cutting off his nose to spite his face.
I agree and I’ll also add the fans to that. This does not paint a great picture of Formula One to the casual fan, and is not the best way of selling a sport when at the current time, it needs to be sold in its best light given the current economic climate.
As far as I can see, nobody wins by continuing this ridiculous power tussle. But, I do believe it will be resolved by the end of the month. Mosley, in his heart of hearts, knows that Formula One needs the majority of the current teams onboard.
As you say though, we shall see…
Yes you are correct Ollie- if you could fuse it all together it would be much appreciated 🙂
This comment stands because Gman made a small error and Ollie was roped into fixing it all, including references to it in further comments. I don’t mind though as we all make mistakes, and as it was just a hitting submit before intended error it’s perfectly okay – we all do it. I’m such a good guy though, fixing everything n’all. 😀 Comment editing is returning in BlogF1 v7.0, for the record. Although it may not land until the winter now as it’s developed from a v6.5 rejiggle to a v7.0 redesign.
Anyway, on with my response that I was halfway through…
I think so as well, but ultimately, F1 would continue in some shape or form.
There has been suggestions that Ferrari would go into sports car racing. Ultimately, this actually fits Ferrari better as it is more relevant to them. Being a luxury sports car manufacturer, they could produce road-going versions of what they race, whereas they can’t with F1. The only thing stopping them is really their history. Ferrari was born from Formula One and is what they are commonly associated with. It’s a tough decision and I wouldn’t want to be on the board for that meeting in Maranello.
Precisely, and this will still likely happen as the number of entrants has been increased to 26 drivers/13 teams. But there will always be a company that wants the caché of competing in Formula One. Spyker are just the most recent who thought that the sport would raise them up in the world. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen for them, but for every Spyker, there’s a Carlin Motorsport, Lola, Prodrive, USGPE etc…
Indeed, I really liked that Dutch shade of orange on the grid 🙁
I too thought the Spykers looked good. As did the Orange-sponsored Arrows before them. The colour orange is not used enough in motor sport. I think I should become a livery designer for Formula One teams.
That’s true, and on that point I should note that possible F1 hopeful Kyle Busch pulled out the Saturday night win a few weeks back with the primarily orange Combos paint job on his COT machine in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Most NASCAR designs look like junk, but we do see a diverse mix of colors on the grid 🙂
Not sure there are 4/5 teams that could replace Ferrari + Mclaren + BMW + STR + RBR…
It is not any go-kart club or Club-Racing team that can enter the game (the check is around 350,000 USD to start with….)
As for Ferrari yes I do agree F1 will survive even if they go. But then it will be dramatic for the fans as they will have noboby to criticise all day long….. There will be only angels around the paddock lol
” a company that wants the caché of competing in Formula One.” As you helped me with my english I help you with your french:
cachet not caché as you have no accent in english and caché means “hidden”.
Cachet (seal, hallmark in french amongst many other meanings) like in the expression “avoir du cachet” meaning having this special character (as for an object with a seal/hallmark that makes it special).
http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/cachet?view=uk
So another of these many words we’ve been exchanging since 1066
Vive l’Entente Cordiale 😉
Oh bloody ‘ell, I knew you’d pick me up on that! 😆
Thanks for pointing it out though, I learn something new every day. 🙂
This is starting to look ominous, even if the Ferrari announcement feels more like posturing than a genuine desire to quit over the two-tier system. We could see quite the exodus of teams if the cap goes through, which is the exact opposite effect to the one Max claimed to want.
Well, this certainly has thrown the cat among the pigeons ! Now I don’t for one second think Ferrari intend to leave F1, but it will certainly get interesting if the FIA chose to call them on their bluff. And stranger things have happened.
As much as I love to hate Ferrari, I do think that F1 without them would be a shadow of its former self. I agree with Haplo, if Ferrari go, watch the mass exodus follow them.
Imagine on the starting grid next year in F1:
Brawn
Williams
Force India
Lotus
USGPE
Prodrive
Penske
On the other side of the fence:
Ferrari
McLaren
Renault
Toyota
BMW
Red Bull
Torro Rosso
Honda(?)
Which race will you gonna watch?
I don’t know but a breakway series may be iminent
F1 can’t survive without Ferrari
Ferrari can survive without F1
F1 can survive without Max…
[…] Ferrari Joins Toyota & Red Bull In 2010 Boycott […]
Well Ferrari is already racing with sportscar. It might be just the GT2-Category so far, but that’s changeable, especially as GT2 becomes GT1 next year with the new ACO-Reglement. Ferrari raced a 575 GT1 in the past, trying to beat Prodrives Ferrari 550 GTS, which Ferrari never wanted to see in GT-Sports. While the Prodrive dominated, the 575 never saw a podium.
The Problem is, if Ferrari would change to Sportscars, they need to create a LM-Prototype from zero experience and they will fail the first few years absolutely surely, especially as Diesel-Engines are highly prefered by the reglement. And as Porsche, Ferrari wouldn’t create a Diesel engine in my opinion. Also Ferrari is nothing compared to Porsche in true Sportscars, they proofed that in the 70s and Ferrari retired after all the losses. Now there are even more opponents to beat with even more exerience, like Audi an Peugeot, but too Oreca and Aston Martin.
Ferrari surely will stay in F1 or join a possible Monoposto-Manufacturer-Series, but they would kill their image by joining sportscar-racing. Remember they won’t get help from FIA anymore, as they got with the Maserati MC12, which was just allowed because the concerns partnership with the FIA.