Black Widow
05-12-2009, 10:49 PM
FERRARI have confirmed their intention to pull out of Formula One from next season as the battle over the FIA’s proposed new rules escalates.
In a short statement on the team’s website, the sport’s most famous marque said they will not be on the grid in 2010.
It read: We confirm our opposition to the new technical regulations adopted by the FIA and do not intend entering our cars in the 2010 F1 Championship."
FIA president Max Mosley is leading the push to curb costs, with a voluntary 40million budget cap set to be introduced from next season.
The plan would allow capped teams to operate with far greater technical freedom than those continuing with unlimited budgets.
But Ferrari's president Luca di Montezemolo – head of the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) – has warned the decision could create a two-tier championship that could be "fundamentally unfair and perhaps even biased".
Teams competing in F1 have until May 29 to state whether or not they are in favour of the spending cap.
Today’s announcement will put to the test Mosley’s resolve after he claimed earlier this month that Formula One could live without Ferrari, the sport’s most famous, most successful, and longest-tenured team.
Ferrari are the only team to have contested every season of the world championship since the modern format was introduced in 1950.
The tradition of the famous prancing horse has long been synonymous with the sport, and the team are the most popular among F1 fans.
The decision to threaten to pull out of the 2010 championship came at a meeting of the Ferrari board of directors in Maranello today.
Ferrari believe the FIA’s new regulations would lead to an unacceptable two-tiered F1 championship, which they consider would be based on arbitrary technical rules and economic parameters.
The board consider that if this is the regulatory framework for Formula 1 in the future, then the reasons underlying Ferrari’s uninterrupted participation in the World Championship over the last 60 years – the only constructor to have taken part ever since its inception in 1950 – would come to a close, said a report from today’s board meeting.
It went on to criticise the FIA’s decision-making process, claiming that teams have not been properly consulted.
The report continued: The rules of governance that have contributed to the development of Formula 1 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.
The same rules for all teams, stability of regulations, the continuity of the FOTA’s endeavours to methodically and progressively reduce costs, and governance of Formula 1 are the priorities for the future.
If these indispensable principles are not respected and if the regulations adopted for 2010 will not change, then Ferrari do not intend to enter our cars in the next Formula 1 World Championship.
The Sun
In a short statement on the team’s website, the sport’s most famous marque said they will not be on the grid in 2010.
It read: We confirm our opposition to the new technical regulations adopted by the FIA and do not intend entering our cars in the 2010 F1 Championship."
FIA president Max Mosley is leading the push to curb costs, with a voluntary 40million budget cap set to be introduced from next season.
The plan would allow capped teams to operate with far greater technical freedom than those continuing with unlimited budgets.
But Ferrari's president Luca di Montezemolo – head of the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) – has warned the decision could create a two-tier championship that could be "fundamentally unfair and perhaps even biased".
Teams competing in F1 have until May 29 to state whether or not they are in favour of the spending cap.
Today’s announcement will put to the test Mosley’s resolve after he claimed earlier this month that Formula One could live without Ferrari, the sport’s most famous, most successful, and longest-tenured team.
Ferrari are the only team to have contested every season of the world championship since the modern format was introduced in 1950.
The tradition of the famous prancing horse has long been synonymous with the sport, and the team are the most popular among F1 fans.
The decision to threaten to pull out of the 2010 championship came at a meeting of the Ferrari board of directors in Maranello today.
Ferrari believe the FIA’s new regulations would lead to an unacceptable two-tiered F1 championship, which they consider would be based on arbitrary technical rules and economic parameters.
The board consider that if this is the regulatory framework for Formula 1 in the future, then the reasons underlying Ferrari’s uninterrupted participation in the World Championship over the last 60 years – the only constructor to have taken part ever since its inception in 1950 – would come to a close, said a report from today’s board meeting.
It went on to criticise the FIA’s decision-making process, claiming that teams have not been properly consulted.
The report continued: The rules of governance that have contributed to the development of Formula 1 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.
The same rules for all teams, stability of regulations, the continuity of the FOTA’s endeavours to methodically and progressively reduce costs, and governance of Formula 1 are the priorities for the future.
If these indispensable principles are not respected and if the regulations adopted for 2010 will not change, then Ferrari do not intend to enter our cars in the next Formula 1 World Championship.
The Sun