Just saw on the side scroll of Bloomberg that Ferrari is considering dropping out of F1 and support sports car racing. Any news? Stephen
Enzo Ferrari "quit" F1 at least a half-dozen times during his days. He actually did "quit" for at least one race - the one after Niki Lauda's near-fatal crash at the Nurburgring, in Austria. But that didn't last long, as Regazzoni was back for Holland.
I can only hope this is accurate. Chances are Ferrari will actually announce their involvement in Le Mans tomorrow. If that means the departure of F1 I don't know. I can't really imagine they will though.
LdM doing an LdM. Sets a dramatic stage for the LeMans annoncement. If they leave F1 the world turns. Im more impacted by struggle of Schumi. F1 show is not worth a thought in the real world.
This is always a predicate for Ferrari wanting something. More testing, change in engine formula, tire rules....who knows? But they want something. They do this because they know F1, especially in its present state, needs Ferrari, even in its present state, more than the Scuderia needs F1.
I can't argue with what LdM says in the article, "[F1 is] declining because FIA have forgotten that people watch the racing for the excitement," di Montezemolo told Neil. "Nobody watches racing for the efficiency, come on." ************************************* My own thoughts? We need more driver involvement, naturally aspirated V-12's, no traction control and limited aero. Watch this for the "old" F-1. Well done. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VhZ7lIOEGk]This is Formula One - YouTube[/ame]
I think going to endurance racing is great, however I also feel that Ferrari's criticism of the current F1 situation, right or wrong, would carry a lot more meaning if they were at the top of the game from a competitive standpoint.
Common consensus is these current cars are much "harder" to drive than they've been for many years - Oodles of torque & reduced downforce ("limited aero"). Fer sure, they're sliding around more than we've seen for a long time. Traction control has been outlawed for years. I think the drivers are pretty "involved"...... V12's? V10's? OK, I could go with that..... Trouble is, Merc, Renault & no doubt Honda wouldn't be into it. Like it or not, small displacement, forced induction & ERS is the current state of the art. And at long last they're pushing that state forward again. Now, if they could fix the sound it'd all be good! Cheers, Ian
Just put large speakers around the track and play the sounds of old F1 cars. Problem solved. Cheers Phil
His point - and by others - is valid. Patrick head recently said the engines now cost 10 times more than they should; Adrian Newey is frustrated by the lack of ability to be creative. Viewership is already Down over 10% (50 million viewers in the first two races; per FOM) Caterham is probably finished as they are most likely going to miss Austria due to finances. Double points for the last race..... The costs are wickedly out of control, and realistically can't be lowered. Montreal was exceptional, but the draw of attending a race, or watching is not as appealing as previously.....
Ferrari is NOT going to leave F-1. They would be leaving big $$$ on the table. and F-1 would virtually cease being F-1 with out Ferrari. So LDM wants something - and most likely will get it. but Le Mans is a good fit - and could be far cheaper than F-1 - and use current La Ferrari Technology... So most likely he's gone out there to make a real statement to get CVC, Todt and Bernies attention... which most likely he has... so I'd be looking for some engine/ testing changes coming along. As for F-1 - I was at Canada, and the cars live in person - not to bad sound wise...but its nowhere like it used to be ... so it can do with some more noise. but the big thing at the race is - there is nothing to do... the souvinere stand are all the same - they had Ferrari challenge & Porsche Super cup, and touring cars... but it was not well promoted.... they need more fan experience crap... otherwise you do a lot of waiting for the next F-1 session. Canada had more track action than most ...
Tom - agree with your assessment; LdM knows he has the most power; a threat like this cannot be taken lightly by the FIA. I also think Canada is a major bright spot on the calendar, so I can't imagine how boring some of the other cities are.
I think LdM is being a bit petulant. I understand he is frustrated, but I don't think he'd be complaining if it were Ferrari running away with the championship instead of Merc. This sort of sound like "I'm taking my ball and going home" since he can't beat the others. I don't think Audi or Porsche will just let Ferrari have it's way in their tech-laden, rules-driven series.
Of course. They want them to lift the engine freeze. I have to say I agree with him. Nico finished second in Canada with 160 hp less than he usually had. That's frightening. At least Merc is letting Nico and Lewis fight otherwise this would be even more boring than last year.
