Ferrari to leave F1 unless cap revoked
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The Associated Press
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 14, 2009 00:00
MILAN, Italy - Ferrari said Tuesday it won't enter next season's Formula One championship unless the sport's governing body revokes its new budget cap.
The storied Italian team, which has been involved in all 60 seasons of F1 racing, said the new FIA guidelines were arbitrary and would set a double standard. It said equal rules for everyone are necessary for the sport to continue.
"The same rules for all teams, stability of regulations, the continuity of ... endeavors to methodically and progressively reduce costs, and governance of Formula One are priorities for the future," Ferrari said in a statement after a board meeting. "If these indispensable principles are not respected, and if the regulations decided for 2010 will not change, Ferrari does not intend to enter its cars in the next Formula One world championship."
Ferrari said it hoped fans would understand this "painful choice."
FIA president Max Mosley is leading the FIA's push to curb costs, with a voluntary 40 million pound budget cap being made available to teams.
Teams that don't adhere to the cap will not receive the same technical freedom, something Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has called "fundamentally unfair."
Ferrari has grown frustrated in recent years with what it sees as the autocratic leadership of Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone and Mosley.
"The board also expressed its disappointment about the methods adopted by the FIA in taking decisions of such a serious nature and its refusal to effectively reach an understanding with constructors and teams," the team said. "The rules of governance that have contributed to the development of Formula One over the last 25 years have been disregarded, as have the binding contractual obligations between Ferrari and the FIA itself regarding the stability of the regulations."
’We will survive’
Mosley has said the sport could survive without the Italian giant, although Formula One drivers have disagreed. The Formula One Teams Association has asked for urgent talks with the governing body over the budget cap.
Ferrari is F1's most successful team with 15 drivers' and 16 constructors' championships.
This season, Ferrari is off to its worst start ever. After his sixth-place finish in Sunday's Spanish GP, Felipe Massa trails overall leader Jenson Button of Brawn GP by 38 points.
Former team boss Eddie Jordan thinks that Ferrari's reaction is a sign that it fears the new rules would prevent it from returning to the top.
"These rules are significant enough for Ferrari to really posture and posture quite strongly about, mainly because they would suffer more than anyone else if they were restricted to a budget," Jordan said. "What's happening is the rearguard is changing. The people that were traditionally at the front - the McLarens and the Ferraris - aren't fighting it out (at the front) and they don't like this."
"The same rules for all teams, stability of regulations, the continuity of ... endeavors to methodically and progressively reduce costs, and governance of Formula One are priorities for the future," Ferrari said in a statement after a board meeting. "If these indispensable principles are not respected, and if the regulations decided for 2010 will not change, Ferrari does not intend to enter its cars in the next Formula One world championship."
Ferrari said it hoped fans would understand this "painful choice."
FIA president Max Mosley is leading the FIA's push to curb costs, with a voluntary 40 million pound budget cap being made available to teams.
Teams that don't adhere to the cap will not receive the same technical freedom, something Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has called "fundamentally unfair."
Ferrari has grown frustrated in recent years with what it sees as the autocratic leadership of Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone and Mosley.
"The board also expressed its disappointment about the methods adopted by the FIA in taking decisions of such a serious nature and its refusal to effectively reach an understanding with constructors and teams," the team said. "The rules of governance that have contributed to the development of Formula One over the last 25 years have been disregarded, as have the binding contractual obligations between Ferrari and the FIA itself regarding the stability of the regulations."
’We will survive’
Mosley has said the sport could survive without the Italian giant, although Formula One drivers have disagreed. The Formula One Teams Association has asked for urgent talks with the governing body over the budget cap.
Ferrari is F1's most successful team with 15 drivers' and 16 constructors' championships.
This season, Ferrari is off to its worst start ever. After his sixth-place finish in Sunday's Spanish GP, Felipe Massa trails overall leader Jenson Button of Brawn GP by 38 points.
Former team boss Eddie Jordan thinks that Ferrari's reaction is a sign that it fears the new rules would prevent it from returning to the top.
"These rules are significant enough for Ferrari to really posture and posture quite strongly about, mainly because they would suffer more than anyone else if they were restricted to a budget," Jordan said. "What's happening is the rearguard is changing. The people that were traditionally at the front - the McLarens and the Ferraris - aren't fighting it out (at the front) and they don't like this."