Formula One can live without Ferrari says Mosley
"The sport could survive without Ferrari," Mosley told the Financial Times. "It would be very sad to lose Ferrari. It is the Italian national team. I hope and think that when a team goes to its board and says, 'I want to go to war with the FIA, because I want to be able to spend £100m more than the FIA want me to spend,' the board will say, 'Why can't you spend £40m if the other teams can do it?'"
Despite Ferrari’s discontent with the situation, the news is already seeing the possibility of at least three new teams entering the series next year, after years of teams leaving due to financial problems. Apart from Brawn GP, which is basically Honda rebranded with a new engine deal, Toyota was the only brand new team to enter the series this millennium.
Therefore, with three more teams eager to join due to the budget cap, Mosley has confirmed that it is here to stay and nothing Ferrari says or does will change the situation….
"The cost cap is here to stay. There is room for discussion, it might go up or down in 2011 and if the economy picks up, say in 2014, then it might go up. You might adjust the cap in the interests of the sport, but you'll have everyone on a level playing field. The credit crunch hasn't really hit F1 yet. Obviously we lost Honda, but the real crunch will come when current contracts come to be renewed. Those contracts were signed before their share prices took a dump. I believe FOM will not be able to give the teams as much money as they have."
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| Max Mosley prepared to take Ferrari on |
05/02/09 Even though F1 would lose 60% of its fans, Formula one could live without the sport's most famous, successful and longest-serving team, Max Mosley insists.
The FIA president's disquieting comments come after war threatened to break out between the Paris body and Maranello based Ferrari, enraged at the introduction of budget caps.
The furious Italian team has been making subtle noises about quitting F1 over the dispute, even though it issued a statement on Friday saying it wants to avoid "harmful" and "pointless controversy".
Ferrari, the only team to have contested every season of the modern world championship since 1950, is the sport's most evocative name whose absence would be an incalculable blow.
But "The sport could survive without Ferrari," Mosley told the Financial Times, although acknowledging the potential seriousness of the loss.
"It would be very, very sad to lose Ferrari. It is the Italian national team," said the Briton.
However, Mosley clearly believes that the stakes are too high to gamble the potential "collapse of F1" on the wishes of its most powerful team.
He also thinks Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo is simply misguided.
"I hope and think that when a team goes to its board and says, 'I want to go to war with the FIA, because I want to be able to spend 100m (pounds sterling) more than the FIA want me to spend', then the board will say, 'why can't you spend 40m if the other teams can do it?'"
Mosley also suggested that, even if Ferrari does go, his plan will safeguard the long-term participation of other car manufacturers.
"The message I'm getting from the board of two or three of the manufacturers is: 'if you can get it so that the check we write is not more than 25m (euro), you can consider this a pretty permanent arrangement'."