Breakaway F1 Championship: Part 9731370

Duke

Duke

Duke

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http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/91349

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo says Formula 1 teams will be open to the idea of forming their own championship from 2013, on the back of interest from News Corporation about getting involved in the sport.

A tie-up between News Corp and Italian investment group Exor, which has strong ties to Ferrari parent company Fiat, has prompted speculation that Ferrari could be evaluating the possibility of a breakaway series.

Now, in an interview with CNN, di Montezemolo has said that all options are open at the minute - as he suggested that there was no reason to feel the teams had to recommit to working with F1 owners CVC and Bernie Ecclestone beyond the end of the current Concorde Agreement.
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Yet again as the Concorde Agreement comes up for renewal, Ferrari are leading the way towards a break away championship.

The likeliness of this going ahead are between none and never, but they still give it a try to keep them on their toes.

Personally I think the FIA/FOM/FOTA have actually done quite well the last few years, anyone else agree?
 
I fully understand why Ferrari are doing this.

The new rules are designed at car manufacturers with small turbo engines. Small turbo engines will never be a feature of Ferrari road cars. Ferrari rely massively on marketing by association with F1, and running 1.6 turbos would mean they would be completely different to their road cars. For Ferrari to stay interested, they need to have screaming high revving NA engines. F1 2013 + doesn't offer them this.

However, because they are so desperate to keep their global marketing presence in a top flight racing series, they are looking to make their own now that the FIA have stopped listening to them.

So what we will have, is a very desperate Ferrari desperately trying to save themselves by making their own racing series using likely F1 2012-ish regulation. The only problem is... who will go with them?

The mass market car manufacturers sure wont. Renault, Cosworth, Pure, etc all love the new 1.6t rules. I expect all other makers (Honda, Toyota, VAG, etc) are watching eagerly to see how well they transfer to road technology. No car maker selling lots of cars in the EU market will be the least bit interested in a large capacity NA formula.

And then there is the simple question of who would want to compete against Ferrari in a formula run by Ferrari? The only direct rival to Ferrari that might follow them is McLaren, and I think even they would draw the line at Ferrari competing AND making the rules...

So no, this wont happen, its just (once again) Ferrari throwing their toys out the pram to try to get their way as they are absolutely petrified about leaving F1 as it will be the death of their major (and pretty much, only) marketing program globally. Loosing F1 will be disastrous to Ferrari. Loosing Ferrari will be a minor inconvenience to F1.
 
AcidHell2 said:
Nothing but a bargaining chip, they aren't serious and never were.
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On the contrary, this time I think they are. They always threatened this stuff before when things were being planned, and then surprise surprise the FIA buckle and keep them happy.

This time round the FIA have stuck with it. 1.6 Turbos are happening for 2013. Ferrari aren't going to change that now. A 1.6t formula offers nothing for Ferrari. There only options are to stay in F1 and become detached from their road cars, leave F1 and go elsewhere, or try to keep an F1 style formula going for as long as they can.

I firmly believe that some people quite high up in Ferrari (or Fiat) are seriously worried about this, and I do have sympathy for them with that. Its the attitude of them and the opinion that F1 will die without them that annoys me. They are not bigger than the sport itself.
 
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It's not going to happen, there are many legal reasons why, they don't use the same engines in f1 cars as they do in Ferrari road cars. It is identical to every other time. It's a bargaining chip and is still almost two years away, plenty of time for rules to change.
 
The big problem with the current deal is the commercial rights situation. The 100 year lease that was given to Bernie was a backhander by Max and now the rights are owned by a hedge fund. Having CVC leach off of the sport is pushing ticket prices through the roof and it's forcing tracks to run F1 races as loss leaders.

By staying with F1, there's no legal way to remedy this situation. So in a sense, a breakaway is a very good idea. I doubt the teams will have the balls to ever go through with it though.
 
Ferrari One racing, coming to sky sports in 2013.. I can see it now.. at least then they could quit complaining about other teams not letting them win all the time, they keep trying to send the message "Sebastian, Frednachos is faster than you.." but Vettel just doesn't listen.. In their own little formula, they could have it all their own way..
 
arknor said:
sure it can aslong as everyone else stays... its not as if ferrari are a top team anymore
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Then you have never been to a race and seen how many people just go to support ferrari regardless of driver, where just about everyone on here follows a driver wherever they go, so many just support ferrari first and the driver second.

A massive worldwide following in a sport in decline. To even suggest that Ferrari is not a top team anymore is just well not even worth typing how stupid that is, so I won't bother taking the bait.

A good little video here with an interview with Montezemelo....

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/motorsport/05/12/motorsport.ferrari.montezemolo.f1/index.html
 
you only have to look at the crowd that the Ferrari gatherings draw to understand what Ferrari brings to F1.

If your definition of a Top Team is one that has been setting fastest lap times and winning races consistently only, then i can see why you would think ferrari is not a "top team"

But you'd be wrong. Being a top team is about much more than that.
 
Anyone who thinks Ferrari is bigger than F1 is deluded.

Why is a bunch of people dressed in red seen as "what Ferrari bring to F1"? Why is it not seen as the popularity F1 brings to Ferrari. Without F1 they simply wouldn't have that stage to perform on, and wouldn't have the fanbase either. Are you seriously suggesting that if Ferrari left all those people would stop watching F1? Of course they wouldn't. They might say they would, but they would just switch their allegiance to another driver or team.

Ferrari need F1 more than they will ever admit, and with these new regulations and the FIA not pandering to their needs, they are ******* their pants.
 
Skeeter said:
Ferrari need F1 more than they will ever admit, and with these new regulations and the FIA not pandering to their needs, they are ******* their pants.
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But they will pander to their needs, just as they have done each and every concorde agreement. It's just a game that starts a couple of years before every concorde renewal.

If F1 doesn't need Ferrari then they should call their bluff. I bet they won't.

Ferrari doesn't need F1 to sell cars anymore than Porsche does.
 
dannyjo22 said:
But they will pander to their needs, just as they have done each and every concorde agreement. It's just a game that starts a couple of years before every concorde renewal.

If F1 doesn't need Ferrari then they should call their bluff. I bet they won't.

Ferrari doesn't need F1 to sell cars anymore than Porsche does.
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Ok, so your telling me the FIA are going to drop the 1.6 Turbo regulations and bring back V10 or V12 NAs, or at the very least, stick with 2.4 NA V8's?

And as for the Porsche comment, have you seen any GT2/3 racing over the last 20 years?! Or perhaps the multiple national and international Porsche one make series!? Not to mention their drive with Hybrid and KERS technology!

Ferrari has F1, and that's it. F1 is all about Marketing by Association. Toyota, Honda, BMW and Renault all left as it wasnt working for them as F1 didn't translate to their road cars. However, this shift brings it right back in line for companies like them, and completely out of line for performance car makers like Ferrari.

The core of Ferrari's marketing is driven by F1 branding and association. Without it, they are up **** creak without a paddle. Of course they are goign to try and get their way, as usual. But this time its not about money, its about keeping their major marketing tool relevant.

If you think F1 will die without Ferrari, then you will be proved very, very wrong.
 
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