Ferrari threaten to leave F1 yet again

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has warned that his team's continued presence in Formula 1 is dependent on major changes to the rules - as he declared it would not back down over technical regulations, testing rules and third cars.

Speaking at Ferrari's World Finals event at Mugello, and amid continued discussions over both F1's next Concord Agreement and the position of the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) as questions about the Resource Restriction Agreement persist, di Montezemolo said Ferrari would stick to its guns over the issues - and underlined his belief that F1's rulemakers could not afford to squeeze Ferrari out.

"Formula 1 is still our life, but without Ferrari there is no Formula 1, just as without Formula 1 Ferrari would be different," said di Montezemolo.

"We can be very patient but there are precise conditions for us to continue with our work. We race not just for the publicity it brings us but above all to carry out advanced research aimed at all aspects of our road cars: engine, chassis, mechanical components, electronics, materials and aerodynamics, to such an extent that the technology transfer from track to road has grown exponentially over the past twenty years."

He stressed that what he saw as restrictive, overly-aero-dependent, rules, the testing ban and the limit of two cars per team were Ferrari's main concerns.

"What is not so good is that 90 per cent of performance is now based exclusively on aerodynamics and another negative is that ours is the only sport where no testing is allowed," said di Montezemolo.

"We are building cars, not helicopters, rockets or planes. Sure, we must not go back to the excesses of a few years ago, but neither should we be in a position where we can't provide opportunities for the youngsters we are bringing on in the Ferrari Driver Academy.

"Finally, there's the issue of the third car, which mark my words, we support not so much for our own interests but more for those of the sport in general. We believe the interest of the fans, media and sponsors could increase if there is a bigger number of competitive cars on track rather than cars that are two or three seconds off the pace, being lapped after just a few laps.

"As an example, remember in 1961 Giancarlo Baghetti won the French Grand Prix at Reims with a privately entered Ferrari. There you are, it would be nice one day in the future to see one of our cars running in American colours, or Chinese, or maybe those of Abu Dhabi."

He warned that F1 should not take Ferrari's continued participation for granted.

"We will support our views as we see fit, in the best way possible, but let's be clear, for those who agree, that is fine, but otherwise they will just have to accept it is our position," di Montezemolo said.

"If Formula 1 still wants Ferrari it must change and go back to being at the cutting edge of research, while always keeping an eye on costs.

"We are not in Formula 1 as sponsors, we are constructors."

F1 doesn't revolve around Ferrari and Luca needs to realize this fast before then end up being replaced by another team cos lets face it plenty of outfits would want to join F1 (prodrive etc)

source: autosport

This is about as unlikely as Katie Price attending a Frankie Boyle concert. How long have they been harping on about it? And have they ever done anything about it? No.

Thats incredibly arrogant of LDM. "Without Ferrari there is no F1"?

Last time I checked there were 11 other teams, with scope to add a replacement if Ferrari decide to bow out.

Let them throw their toys out of the pram if they want to. F1 should not be held to ransom by any one team.

Personally I'd be delighted if they did decide to quit as I'm fed up with their repeated histrionics ever since the RRA came into force. Imagine that...any new team taking their place would have the chance to sign Alonso and Massa as their drivers!

I'm fed up with their cheating too. "Fernando is faster than you..."

It's amazing he's talking about innovation when they spend most of their time copying other teams designs. E.g red bulls front wing and Mclaren's F-duct.

Even Alonso has said they need to be more innovative in their approach.

All good things come to an end though and if they want to leave F1 they will be missed but the show will go on.

We'll miss the red car and the tifosi, however their approach to team orders, media days (aka testing), cheating, destroying peoples races and ignoring the rules won't be missed.

I think there would be multiple examples of all those discrepencies listed above Belgarion if a team had competed in F1 for over 50 years, Mclaren have a large amount themselves. Having said that Ferrari won't leave, they are the big draw but F1 could survive without them.

To be fair, Ferrari does have the racing ethos, and without them formula one would be different and would probably lose a lot of sponsorship and credibility.

Presumably participating in formula one is a net loss maker for Ferrari - and they are saying one of their interests in staying in formula one is the opportunity for active research, with possibilities for technology transfer to their commercial sports cars - however the research side is being restricted by the "new rules" of F1. Ferrari are saying the new rules are going too far for their liking and that they might reevaluate their position within F1.

Nore Staat wrote:To be fair, Ferrari does have the racing ethos, and without them formula one would be different and would probably lose a lot of sponsorship and credibility.

Presumably participating in formula one is a net loss maker for Ferrari - and they are saying one of their interests in staying in formula one is the opportunity for active research, with possibilities for technology transfer to their commercial sports cars - however the research side is being restricted by the "new rules" of F1. Ferrari are saying the new rules are going too far for their liking and that they might reevaluate their position within F1.

I think Ferrari may have once had a racing ethos, but I haven't seen it for quite a while (i.e. since Schumacher signed for them). Since then they've had a pretty definite No.1 & 2 driver policy.

I agree F1 would be different and from a sponsor's and fans' (tifosi) perspective, some of the glamour would be lost, but the sport would most definitely survive.

I also question why the technical restrictions would have a negative impact on their R&D. They have one of the best test facilities in the world at Maranello and the opportunity to try out any new technology they please, outside of F1. Given they've already managed to circumvent the testing restrictions under the guise of "press days" I imagine they could even find other ways of evaluating their R&D work, if they really wanted to.