Ferrari Threatens to Withdraw from F1 and Start Rival Series

[axeMaltesse]

In f1 we will have more pay drivers than real talents soon. It's not a queen of motorsport any more.
Look at Williams now

 

[Michelin Man]

What's wrong with the shark fin ? I really like it.

Nothing at all, I love 'em, more disappointed with the decision to remove them for next year, as they are what make the cars aesthetically for me.

 

[Lawndart]

I think it’s time Ferrari’s bluff gets called. Their only reasons lack of entitlement and once that goes mainstream their brand will be affected. Case in point, Ferrari isn’t really a car company, 80% of their revenue is merchandising so they need to be associated with the highest levels of Motorsport. But being Italian, they might actually do it, but they would be right back the following year... oh, but wait, what about their obligations to other teams like Haas?!

 

[Northstar]

what about their obligations to other teams like Haas?!

I'm guessing they would use their support as leverage and try getting those teams to follow them to this proposed new series.

Of course this brings up the question of whether or not any teams would trust Ferrari enough to join a series ran by them?

 

[Tired Tyres]

This again? Call them on it and watch them fold.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

In f1 we will have more pay drivers than real talents soon. It's not a queen of motorsport any more.
Look at Williams now

What are you talking about? F1 has had tons of pay drivers since the early 90s...

And Williams what?

 

[Northstar]

What are you talking about? F1 has had tons of pay drivers since the early 90s...

And Williams what?

Early 90's? Try race 1!

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Early 90's? Try race 1!

True pay drivers have been around forever, but the status quo of "if you want to race in F1 you bring us money!" Seemed to find its stride in the 90s and hasn't left since, nor will it ever at this point.

 

[PsuPepperoni]

We'll call it Formula A

 

[Andyc709292]

Ferrari's new series: Follow the leader (tm)

 

[SagarisGTB]

Early 90's? Try race 1!

Though this is true, it has to be mentioned that Prince Bira was only one of many gentleman drivers that took part in that inaugural F1 race, and the prince was certainly one of the best (if not the outright best) proper amateur drivers to have ever taken part in the F1 world championship. In qualifying for that famous 1950 British GP, Prince Bira ended up 5th, behind only the dominant Alfa Romeos, 3 seconds ahead of his teammate Baron de Graffenried, 4 seconds ahead of the guy Bugatti ended up naming the Chiron after (in the same car too), and was 5+ seconds clear of the British and Irish contingent of amateur racers.

 

[TomBrady]

So dumb. The Halo is far worse than any regulations anyways.

Plus, I agree with Liberty Media. It shouldn't be who the best team is, it should be about the drivers. That's the problem with F1 and why there's too much dominance. The racing would be so much more entertaining if they all drove the same car.

 

[TenEightyOne]

The racing would be so much more entertaining if they all drove the same car.

How would that be formula racing?

 

[05XR8]

How would that be formula racing?

It is, like plain old Similac. Bor-ring.

 

[mustafur]

In f1 we will have more pay drivers than real talents soon. It's not a queen of motorsport any more.
Look at Williams now

There is more real talent now then ever, even most of the ''pay'' drivers actually had lower formula success.

Of all the drivers that are on the grid Ericsson is the worst, but it's not like he isn't anywhere near F1 quality his lower formula career wasn't too bad and didn't get beaten that bad by Wehrlein who is pretty highly rated.

Giovinazzi and Norris are probably the only drivers right now that are easily F1 quality and have good future potential but are not racing F1 in 2018, but I would be surprised if in 2 years both are not on the grid.

Sirotokin was in a fight for the 2016 GP2 title in a inferior team for most of the season(which I would rate a better field overall then 2017 F2) I wouldn't say he isn't any good(He wouldn't be my first pick but he would hit the top 5).

Remember Hariyanto?, he was supposed to be the pay driver that sent F1 backwards but he held up to Wehrlein pretty well and proved he wasn't a lost cause, but the money dried up.

 

[Lawndart]

Pay drivers (sponsored) vs gentleman drivers are very different.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

There is more real talent now then ever, even most of the ''pay'' drivers actually had lower formula success.

Of all the drivers that are on the grid Ericsson is the worst, but it's not like he isn't anywhere near F1 quality his lower formula career wasn't too bad and didn't get beaten that bad by Wehrlein who is pretty highly rated.

Giovinazzi and Norris are probably the only drivers right now that are easily F1 quality and have good future potential but are not racing F1 in 2018, but I would be surprised if in 2 years both are not on the grid.

Sirotokin was in a fight for the 2016 GP2 title in a inferior team for most of the season(which I would rate a better field overall then 2017 F2) I wouldn't say he isn't any good(He wouldn't be my first pick but he would hit the top 5).

Remember Hariyanto?, he was supposed to be the pay driver that sent F1 backwards but he held up to Wehrlein pretty well and proved he wasn't a lost cause, but the money dried up.

You could of used Schumi and solved the pay driver argument

 

[mustafur]

I think we are talking about pay drivers that have enough money to leap ahead of where they are talent/skill wise compared to pay drivers Sponsered by car brands or other big companies that have results to back it up, you need some sort of money to get in either way.

 

[Dotini]

The crux of Ferrari's threat to leave is the engine regs for '21.
Here is the latest from Todt,and it's still about a simpler, cheaper engine, not what Ferrari want, I think.
http://www.racer.com/f1/item/148027-new-manufacturers-need-f1-engine-decision-by-end-of-year

 

[TheElbows]

I also believe that if the "You're Ferrari" cash disappears, Ferrari could use this engine argument as justification for leaving the sport. Ferrari races "mostly" for free given how much money they receive each year. I think they're setting this up as a general excuse for leaving the series because they fear a number of different changes we're likely to see start showing up.

 

[SestoScudo]

F1 needs Ferrari and Ferrari needs F1.

Its like the English premier league without Manchester United or La Liga without Real Madrid.

The F1 owners should tread lightly because without Ferrari, F1 will not be the same without its marque brand.

Ferrari has also branched out onto other forms of motorsport and have been successful. F1 is not the only thing Ferrari has been successful. If Ferrari creates a new rival series and allows V12's, V10's, V8's, V6 or Flat 12 engines along with unlimited development or rules on this new series, F1 will be dead like no tomorrow.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

F1 needs Ferrari and Ferrari needs F1.

Its like the English premier league without Manchester United or La Liga without Real Madrid.

The F1 owners should tread lightly because without Ferrari, F1 will not be the same without its marque brand.

Ferrari has also branched out onto other forms of motorsport and have been successful. F1 is not the only thing Ferrari has been successful. If Ferrari creates a new rival series and allows V12's, V10's, V8's, V6 or Flat 12 engines along with unlimited development or rules on this new series, F1 will be dead like no tomorrow.

Nope

 

[Furinkazen]

F1 needs Ferrari and Ferrari needs F1.

Its like the English premier league without Manchester United or La Liga without Real Madrid.

The F1 owners should tread lightly because without Ferrari, F1 will not be the same without its marque brand.

Ferrari has also branched out onto other forms of motorsport and have been successful. F1 is not the only thing Ferrari has been successful. If Ferrari creates a new rival series and allows V12's, V10's, V8's, V6 or Flat 12 engines along with unlimited development or rules on this new series, F1 will be dead like no tomorrow.

Such a series will never exist. Ever heard of economics?

 

[Terronium-12]

F1 needs Ferrari and Ferrari needs F1.

Its like the English premier league without Manchester United or La Liga without Real Madrid.

The F1 owners should tread lightly because without Ferrari, F1 will not be the same without its marque brand.

Ferrari has also branched out onto other forms of motorsport and have been successful. F1 is not the only thing Ferrari has been successful. If Ferrari creates a new rival series and allows V12's, V10's, V8's, V6 or Flat 12 engines along with unlimited development or rules on this new series, F1 will be dead like no tomorrow.

I would argue F1 needs Ferrari much more than the reverse. It's similar to Audi and Porsche leaving WEC — there's an unholy gap no one but them can fill.

 

[Tentafool]

Apologies in advance for the long post, but...

F1 needs Ferrari and Ferrari needs F1.

Hardly. Ferrari need F1, sure, considering that's pretty much where they get their money from outside of their car and merchandise sales. But F1 can easily survive without Ferrari, as there are many more teams than just Ferrari hanging about in F1.

If anything, it's Ferrari that are stifling F1 due to how the regulations are formed. Ferrari have a well-publicised ability to veto any future technical decisions made for the direction of F1, whilst every other team have to agree or disagree with it. F1 doesn't need Ferrari at all, based on this.

Its like the English premier league without Manchester United or La Liga without Real Madrid.

Have you seen Manchester United as of recent? Sure, they're doing well this time around; 2nd on the table is nothing to scoff at. But compared to their prime with Fergie at the helm, they're really not doing as great.
Not to mention, F1, like football, is a sport. It has teams with drivers in them that compete for the best results which get forwarded to the teams themselves. If the teams aren't good enough, they end up in lower leagues or quit.

Fortunately, in terms of performance, Ferrari are in a position where they can hang up there with the best of the teams, and have done so for almost their entire time in Formula 1. With the exception of 1980's terrible season for them, the worst they've finished in terms of constructors is 6th, and at their best, they can crank out champions like no tomorrow. But at the end of the day, if they're doing well, then whatever. But they're still competitors - no matter the heritage, all competitors should be on equal grounding with the only difference coming from the results they bring out.

The F1 owners should tread lightly because without Ferrari, F1 will not be the same without its marque brand.

Oh, it won't be the same, but not being the same doesn't mean it won't be better. Read the first part for info as to why.
Besides, right now, Ferrari are being the teacher's pet right now. They are getting what would be best described as "preferential treatment" by the FIA, with things like the regulation veto.

Ferrari has also branched out onto other forms of motorsport and have been successful. F1 is not the only thing Ferrari has been successful. If Ferrari creates a new rival series and allows V12's, V10's, V8's, V6 or Flat 12 engines along with unlimited development or rules on this new series, F1 will be dead like no tomorrow.

Right, let's break this down piece by piece...

Which forms of motorsport? Because as far as I'm aware, the only sport Ferrari actively compete in is Formula 1. Whilst AF Corse and Risi Competizione race in IMSA, ALMS and WEC with the backing of Ferrari, it's not Ferrari themselves competing.

Also, whilst Ferrari have seen success in other racing ventures in the past such as the World Sportscar Championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours, the unfortunate truth is nowadays, outside of the aforementioned factory-backing of privateer teams in IMSA, ALMS and WEC, Ferrari have only F1. Grand Prix racing was what the entire company was formed around, after all, and right now, they are in one of the most comfortable positions out there politically, not just in terms of performance.

Also, there is no way in hell that a series allowing for V12s, I12s or V10s is gonna come about nowadays. V8s and V6s, maybe. Also, unlimited development or rules on this series...again, Ferrari would end up having full reign over development, much like they do in F1. If they don't like something, they can just say "no" and it would stop, whilst teams like Mercedes, Red Bull, Williams and McLaren - all very well established names in Formula 1 nowadays - can't; the closest they can do is vote together and hope that Ferrari agree with them.

Suffice it to say, if Ferrari do a Tony George and go off to make a new series, F1 wouldn't be dead. In fact, considering Ferrari's old-fashioned ways, I wouldn't be remotely surprised to see it backfire in their face if they tried. Ferrari don't put a single penny to marketing; what marketing is done by them is by their competing in F1.
Simply put...without F1, they would slowly disappear off the map. Not even prestige would save them.

 

[Liquid]

The $100,000,000 Ferrari allegedly get just for turning up each year is also a big factor on Ferrari's continued participation in F1. Before absolutely any other calculations are made the Scuderia racing team's budget would be 100 million worse off if they formed a rival series because I doubt that John Elkann and the rest of Fiat Chrysler will step in and replace that "loyalty bonus".

Really, I sometimes think that if Ferrari do get 100 million more than other teams for free, they should have the best car on the grid but that's another story.

 

[TenEightyOne]

The $100,000,000 Ferrari allegedly get just for turning up each year is also a big factor on Ferrari's continued participation in F1. Before absolutely any other calculations are made the Scuderia racing team's budget would be 100 million worse off if they formed a rival series because I doubt that John Elkann and the rest of Fiat Chrysler will step in and replace that "loyalty bonus".

Really, I sometimes think that if Ferrari do get 100 million more than other teams for free, they should have the best car on the grid but that's another story.

The current Haas "controversy" may see a rush of F1 customers to Ferrari's door. It's hard to imagine Mercedes wanting to enter similar customer arrangements which means that Ferrari could be placing themselves very well.