Ferrari Threaten F1 Exit in Light of New Liberty Media Plans

[Paul Jeffrey]

Toys? Pram? Throw? Yes, after an unusually long time Ferrari are at it again....

Following a rather interesting conference call with Ferrari President and all round Italian Sergio Marchionne, the head man at the Scuderia has very strongly indicated that the Prancing Horse could well walk away from Formula One at the end of 2020 if the sport continues with what Marchionne considers to be a Liberty Media led vision that is not in keeping with the sporting ethos of the Italian brand.

Ferrari were once rather famous for their often vocalised threats to walk away from Grand Prix racing if conditions were not to their liking, however since the post Todt / Brawn / Schumacher era the outfit have remained rather tight lipped on their long term future in the sport, seemingly willing to work more closely with their fellow teams to help bring both team and sport back to the very front of the motorsport world.

Since the removal of the Ecclestone era and the apparent eroding of the Ferrari advantage on both technical and financial fronts, it looks like the famous red team are not adverse to returning to form and threatening to take their business elsewhere in the motorsport world.

"Liberty has got a couple of good intentions in all of this, one of which is to reduce the cost of execution for the team, which I think is good" said Marchionne.

"There are a couple of things we don't necessarily agree with. One of which is the fact that somehow powertrain uniqueness is not going to be one of the drivers of distinctiveness of the participants' line-up. I would not countenance this going forward.

"The fact that we now appear to be at odds in terms of the strategic development of this thing, and we see the sport in 2021 taking on a different air, is going to force some decisions on the part of Ferrari.
​

Quite how the partisan "tifosi" will feel with no representation of the red cars at the pinnacle of world motorsport remains to be seen, especially considering the Ferrari brand has been built on the back of their Formula One program and that the Italian team have been present in every season of Grand Prix racing since the series inception in 1950, however Marchionne appears to be adamant that the team could very well walk away from Formula One should conditions not be to the liking of the famous outfit:

"I understand that Liberty may have taken these into account in coming up with their views, but I think it needs to be absolutely clear that unless we find a set of circumstances, the results of which are beneficial to the maintenance of the brand, and the marketplace, and to the strengthening of the unique position for Ferrari, Ferrari will not play" added the 65-year-old.​

Although no doubt a move away from Formula One would be controversial for the team, Marchionne went on to say that financially at least the manufacturer would actually be in a stronger position without the excessive budgets required to compete at the top level of the sport:

"It would be totally beneficial to the P&L [profits and losses]," he said. "We would be celebrating here until the cows come home... "But if we change the sandbox to the point where it becomes an unrecognisable sandbox, I don't want to play any more. I don't want to play NASCAR globally, I just don't."
​

Would Ferrari walk away from Formula One or is the latest quotes from the top brass merely a ploy to influence the regulations to the liking of the Italian team? Can the sport survive without Ferrari, and can Ferrari survive without Formula One? These are all questions that will be interesting to see unfold over the next few weeks and months....

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Do you thing the threat is real? Would Ferrari pull the plug on Formula One involvement if they don't get their way? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[samcar304]

Can't see them doing it to be honest. Liberty will call their bluff, Make them look like right nobs and then they will show up again season after season until F1 folds or whatever the fate of the series will be.

 

[Nick Hill]

Why can't they do this over that damned halo?

 

[Adrian Galic]

The only reason Ferrari sell as many teddy bears as they do is because of their Formula 1 presence, and there's no other sport that gives them the global exposure that they have. They'll never give that up, and considering the amount of money they make every year even though they haven't won a championship in 9 years says a lot.

 

[Karl S.]

Ferrari needs F1 much more than the other way round. They will stay. Who really believes they are serious about leaving F1? Remember the Ferrari 637 episode in the 80s when Ferrari threatend to leave F1 and race in the IndyCar series? Yeah, guess so.

 

[Kakusso]

It is not the first time Ferrari threatens to leave F1. And they know it works just like a baby cries to get attention from his mother.

 

[Pywackett-Barchetta]

I don't want to play NASCAR globally, I just don't.

Shame, because that, I'd like to see.

 

[aphidgod]

Translation: if I have to compete on a level playing field to win, I'm out. Can't blame him, really. If I was living on easy street I'd fight hard to keep my house too.

 

[ronniej]

Then again, It could be a smart "saving face" way to get out of the money pit called "F1".......Food for thought.

 

[shedz]

I think you should have explained in this feature what it is that Ferrari are concerned about. From the OP the main thing that makes a point is

"There are a couple of things we don't necessarily agree with. One of which is the fact that somehow powertrain uniqueness is not going to be one of the drivers of distinctiveness of the participants' line-up. I would not countenance this going forward."

That paragraph has got me thinking that it must be misquoted because it really doesn't make much English sense, we could pigeon type what we think, but we shouldn't have to.

Anyway, I think it would be fine for the Ferrari 'influence' to leave F1, but bad if the Ferrari 'cars' left F1.

 

[Diogo Goetz Brand]

Ferrari needs F1 more than F1 needs Ferrari. How people still take those threats seriously is beyond me.

 

[kondor999]

The people who buy Ferrari cars don't do so because of F1.

They do it to get laid.

The only people who care about the Ferrari F1 program are guys like us

 

[Lars Hansen]

I think you should have explained in this feature what it is that Ferrari are concerned about. From the OP the main thing that makes a point is

"There are a couple of things we don't necessarily agree with. One of which is the fact that somehow powertrain uniqueness is not going to be one of the drivers of distinctiveness of the participants' line-up. I would not countenance this going forward."

That paragraph has got me thinking that it must be misquoted because it really doesn't make much English sense, we could pigeon type what we think, but we shouldn't have to.

It's awkwardly worded, I agree.
But from what I can understand, the main issue for Ferrari (and Mercedes and Renault for that matter) is that FOM intends to introduce a number of spec parts and design parameters to the engines, in theory making it cheaper to develop.
One weird side-effect of which is, if introduced, it will make engine development far more expensive until the new regulations from 2020 onwards, simply because the teams will have to develop TWO engines until the time of the switch-over.
And now some of the manufacturers are saying that if that's the case, they need some serious economic incentive to stick around.

A few bullet-points of the proposal:
— The 2021 power unit to be a 1.6 Litre, V6 Turbo Hybrid

— 3000rpm higher engine running speed range to improve the sound

— Prescriptive internal design parameters to restrict development costs and discourage extreme designs and running conditions

— Removal of the MGU-H

— More powerful MGU-K with focus on manual driver deployment in race together with option to save up energy over several laps to give a driver controlled tactical element to racing

— Single turbo with dimensional constraints and weight limits

— Standard energy store and control electronics

— High Level of external prescriptive design to give “Plug-And-Play” engine/chassis/transmission swap capability

 

[Nick Gregory]

It's that time of year again!

 

[Joseph Maxx]

I doubt they will ever go but if they do I wouldn't mind seeing a Ferrari or two entered in LMP1. Then again, given their reliability issues in F1 this year maybe endurance racing wouldn't be their forte.

 

[howitzer155mm]

Ferrari needs F1 more than F1 needs Ferrari. How people still take those threats seriously is beyond me.

Sure about that? While F1s popularity and fanbase diminishes, Prototype/GTE and IndyCar racing is increasing, along with Formula E.

 

[Cheesenium]

Not this crap again.

I do not mind if Ferrari leaves F1. There are plenty of other types of motorsports to participate in.

And a global version of NASCAR would be interesting if they can guarantee close competition with most of the teams unlike the current F1 with only 1-2 teams have a chance of winning.

 

[Diogo Goetz Brand]

Sure about that? While F1s popularity and fanbase diminishes, Prototype/GTE and IndyCar racing is increasing, along with Formula E.

Formula E is popular where? IndyCar is popular inside the USA and nothing special everywhere else, WEC isn't even close to F1 in visibility since there aren't many channels willing to broadcast 6 hours of racing straight, or fans willing to watch 6 hours non-stop.
Also, do you really think Ferrari would want to participate in a spec series like Indy? Do you really think they'd want to develop electric race cars, since when they made LaFerrari they stated that they weren't in the business of fully electric cars? Do you really think they would want to spend as much as they do in F1 to have less visibility in a dying category like LMP1, which is the exact reason for Porsche leaving? Each to their opinion, but I don't.
Ferrari was founded as an F1 team, everything else they made was just to have money to invest in Formula one, and even though F1 would lose without Ferrari, I mantain my original statement.

 

[JayOTT]

No, screw you Ferrari. You cursed the entire world with the halo, now you take your lumps by experiencing the slow death of Formula One first hand.

 

[@apocapollo]

Let Ferrari leave. They'll lose their monopoly on paddock politics, make their return after a couple season absent, and realize they're no longer the big fish in the small pond they thought they were.

I think about all the proposed initiatives over the years that would have nursed the series into a healthier position and how Ferrari has thrown their weight around to make sure those changes aren't made because apparently a healthy F1 isn't what Scuderia wants.