Ferrari leaving F1?
After weeks of intense behind-the-scenes manoeuvring in which Luca Di Montezemolo, the Ferrari president, has sought to lead the charge against the FIA, motor sport’s governing body, and Max Mosley, its president, the board of the Italian car manufacturer said that it will not enter next year’s World Championship unless plans for a voluntary £40 million budget cap are changed. The company said that it wanted the same rules in place for all the teams, stability of technical regulations and progress on cutting costs along the lines proposed by the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA), which is led by Di Montezemolo and which has favoured a more cautious approach to budget-trimming.
“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 One World Championship,” the company said.
Referring to the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council meeting on April 29, which approved the 2010 regulations, the Ferrari statement added:
“Although this meeting was originally called only to examine a disciplinary matter, the decisions taken mean that, for the first time ever in Formula One, the 2010 season will see the introduction of two different sets of regulations based on arbitrary technical rules and economic parameters. The board considers that if this is the regulatory framework for Formula One in the future, the reasons underlying Ferrari’s uninterrupted participation in the World Championship over the last 60 years . . . would come to a close.”
Ferrari are not alone in threatening to leave Formula One or, at least, not to enter next year’s championship by the deadline imposed by the FIA of May 29. Toyota and Red Bull have said that they will not take part next year unless the rules are changed, but they did so with far less fanfare than the Scuderia.
An interesting fact about Ferrari, it was started as a company solely to promote racing drivers by Enzo Ferrari and later on ventured into manufacturing racing cars and eventually into high performance cars. With a history rich in motorsports such as Ferrari they have every reason to feel cheated. A company with the reputation for producing F1 greats of both kinds: Man and Machine.
They have achieved the pinnacle of technical expertise and the developments on track have found their way on to road cars sooner rather than later. The advanced aerodynamics of modern day cars vis-à-vis the box shaped wagons of yester year. Motorsports gives manufactures the technical freedom to experiment within limits in a bid to produce the ultimate machine which possesses both speed and stamina.
Ferrari seems to have been irritated by the constant rule changes by the FIA. They seem to be taking the fun out of racing and are moving to a more standardized F1.The budget caps may make sense in the recession but look at the impact on high performance car manufacturers such as Ferrari and McLaren. The main problem with these rule changes is that they are not binding on all teams and many of them don’t make sense.
An engine without a rev limit does not make sense when you will not be allowed to refuel during a race.
Unlimited out of season testing defeats the very purpose of cost cutting.
These rules may be aimed at standardizing F1 so that no team has an unfair advantage but isn’t there a separate division known as A1 GP for such people.F1 has been the cornerstone for development in motorsports and budget cuts and standardization is simply giving a handicap to smaller teams while binding the performance of bigger and better teams. Instead of asking manufacturers to push the limits FIA seems to be interested in acting as a surrogate mother for smaller teams protecting them from the Big Daddies of F1.
The new rules sound as if they were propounded by recession hit billionaires who have now turned into Millionaires. It is time that Bernie and Max get down to business and take a decision on where they want F1 to head, a step back to make it more like street racing and A1 GP or to be a benchmark in the field of motorsports to be looked up to with awe and respect.
“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 One World Championship,” the company said.
Referring to the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council meeting on April 29, which approved the 2010 regulations, the Ferrari statement added:
“Although this meeting was originally called only to examine a disciplinary matter, the decisions taken mean that, for the first time ever in Formula One, the 2010 season will see the introduction of two different sets of regulations based on arbitrary technical rules and economic parameters. The board considers that if this is the regulatory framework for Formula One in the future, the reasons underlying Ferrari’s uninterrupted participation in the World Championship over the last 60 years . . . would come to a close.”
Ferrari are not alone in threatening to leave Formula One or, at least, not to enter next year’s championship by the deadline imposed by the FIA of May 29. Toyota and Red Bull have said that they will not take part next year unless the rules are changed, but they did so with far less fanfare than the Scuderia.
An interesting fact about Ferrari, it was started as a company solely to promote racing drivers by Enzo Ferrari and later on ventured into manufacturing racing cars and eventually into high performance cars. With a history rich in motorsports such as Ferrari they have every reason to feel cheated. A company with the reputation for producing F1 greats of both kinds: Man and Machine.
They have achieved the pinnacle of technical expertise and the developments on track have found their way on to road cars sooner rather than later. The advanced aerodynamics of modern day cars vis-à-vis the box shaped wagons of yester year. Motorsports gives manufactures the technical freedom to experiment within limits in a bid to produce the ultimate machine which possesses both speed and stamina.
Ferrari seems to have been irritated by the constant rule changes by the FIA. They seem to be taking the fun out of racing and are moving to a more standardized F1.The budget caps may make sense in the recession but look at the impact on high performance car manufacturers such as Ferrari and McLaren. The main problem with these rule changes is that they are not binding on all teams and many of them don’t make sense.
An engine without a rev limit does not make sense when you will not be allowed to refuel during a race.
Unlimited out of season testing defeats the very purpose of cost cutting.
These rules may be aimed at standardizing F1 so that no team has an unfair advantage but isn’t there a separate division known as A1 GP for such people.F1 has been the cornerstone for development in motorsports and budget cuts and standardization is simply giving a handicap to smaller teams while binding the performance of bigger and better teams. Instead of asking manufacturers to push the limits FIA seems to be interested in acting as a surrogate mother for smaller teams protecting them from the Big Daddies of F1.
The new rules sound as if they were propounded by recession hit billionaires who have now turned into Millionaires. It is time that Bernie and Max get down to business and take a decision on where they want F1 to head, a step back to make it more like street racing and A1 GP or to be a benchmark in the field of motorsports to be looked up to with awe and respect.
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