FERRARI QUIT F1

[david1275]

Sabre rattling on Ferrari's part in my view. They need the spotlight of F1 to sell road cars. Long gone are the days when Ferrari made road cars to fund their racing, they now need racing as a marketing tool to sell the road cars. In my view, and in defense of my beloved Ferrari, 40 million is too low a figure to cap budgets at, after all this F1 the pinnacle of motorsport.

Long live Ferrari!!

[Jericoke]

Sabre rattling on Ferrari's part in my view. They need the spotlight of F1 to sell road cars. Long gone are the days when Ferrari made road cars to fund their racing, they now need racing as a marketing tool to sell the road cars. In my view, and in defense of my beloved Ferrari, 40 million is too low a figure to cap budgets at, after all this F1 the pinnacle of motorsport.

Long live Ferrari!!

I'm pretty sure that Ferrari's reputation as street going 'Super Cars' is cemented.  Their largest market is the USA, hardly a bastion of F1 fervor.  The road car division isn't going to be hurt by this decision. 

McLaren might sell a dozen more cars at Ferrari's expense, but that's the total cost.

I can see where Ferrari is coming from:  a cap on the top level of autoracing is absurd.  The thing is, Ferrari and McLaren swapping titles for the next 30 years is absurd too.  There needs to be room for more in F1, or F1 won't be worth anything.  I think the fact that the company that designed the best car on the grid finds the sport too expensive speaks volumes.

It also speaks volumes that Ferrari would rather win by outspending the competition than simply designing better cars.

[John S]

So the FIA could possibly turf Ferrari from all levels of competition as their own threat?

People might hate shady backroom deals, but this public negotiation is just embarassing.

The FIA cannot exclude correct entries to other series from a team just because they do not choose to take part in F1.

[Jericoke]

The FIA cannot exclude correct entries to other series from a team just because they do not choose to take part in F1.

True, but look what teams get away with in F1.  Surely such chicanary exists in other formulae.  I'd be willing to bet Ferrari gets plenty of leeway there too.  Wouldn't be too difficult to announce that Ferrari is out of whatever formula because they forgot to dot an 'i'.

I don't see it happening, but if they're going to do this in a public war, it is a club available to Max.

[John S]

 I think the fact that the company that designed the best car on the grid finds the sport too expensive speaks volumes.

If you are referring to Honda the decision to quit was made in light of the global credit crunch eating not only their profit but their capital as well, the perceived value from an underperforming team and car was therefore almost nil.

Whilst they may have been interested to cut their budget with a capping system, if they couldn't get on terms with the front runners on one of the biggest budgets in F1 they probably felt it was even more implausable on a very much smaller sum.

The car that has become the best on the grid probably would not have happened under the new cheaper proposals, Honda spent most of last year and a few hundred million dollars for the new car to be born.

Big corporations are never very good at seeing a quick turnaround, Brawn however had the experience to know that they had a competitive car. He may not have known it was a race winning car first time out but he must have been aware it was midfield or higher otherwise why would he risk his own money on it.

The real test is can Brawn produce a car that is on the pace for 2010 without the other teams being held back by the budget capping?

[johnbull]

I've just been reading an Italian site, on this subject. There is total panic. I don't know what they're not calling Max.

But really and truly this is only Ferrari trying to threaten, just as both Toyota and BMW have recently done.

Now if they all decide not to sign up for next season, then they may get something done.

[Jericoke]

Are the non Ferrari complaints about the budget cap, or about the 2 formulae?

I agree that 2 formulae isn't a great solution... I imagine that was put in as some sort of way to let Ferrari spend what they wanted.

[lkjohnson1950]

What I've been reading seems to say the teams all find the cap much too low. Briatore wants to keep out the discount teams, though Renault has not officially joined the rebellion. BMW, Ferrari, Red Bull, (and presumably Toro Rosso), and Toyota all say they will not race next year under the current rules.

Lonny

[Andy B]

How long ago was it that Mad Max said that continuity of the rules was the way to cost saving?

[Chameleon]

I've just been reading an Italian site, on this subject. There is total panic. I don't know what they're not calling Max.

But really and truly this is only Ferrari trying to threaten, just as both Toyota and BMW have recently done.

Now if they all decide not to sign up for next season, then they may get something done.

Nope, this is the big one, the crunch we've all been waiting for over the last few years.  Max has finally managed to put the teams in a position so untenable that, unless he compromises, they will carry out their threat to leave.

To Toyota, Renault, BMW, Red Bull and Mercedes this is really no big deal - they have been seriously considering whether F1 is worth the expense anyway.  Ferrari's position is somewhat different in that, although it can survive quite happily without F1, it would be preferable for the company if they were to stay.  It is that twerp Bernie that supplies them with a way through this - in saying that, if Donington cannot be ready in time, he could just skip the British GP for 2010 and re-instate it in the year following, he shows that Ferrari can do something similar.

If Ferrari leaves, most of the grid goes with it.  Max will be left with a joke series and FOM, the FIA and everyone concerned will finally have to admit that the guy is insane.  He would not survive such a disaster to the FIA's credibility and FOM's funding source.  His replacement would have to re-design F1 pretty much as the teams want it now and then Ferrari would be back in 2011 (with all their main competition departed and the prospect of years of domination ahead of them).

Much depends on whether the FIA realises the danger soon enough to stop Max.  Election time looms and the delegates have a convenient lever on the madman as a result.  Expect the FIA and FOTA to get down to serious discussions soon (most likely after the end of this month when the closing date for 2010 entries expires and only three teams have signed up), with an announcement of a sensible compromise to follow quickly thereafter.