Simple question I guess I should define 'survive', and that would be to lose less than 35% of their audience. The racing will go on, but viewership, on TV and in the grandstands, will suffer, the question is, how much will it suffer? If you think it would lose more than 35% of the audience, vote no, else, vote yes.
Define survive... Exist? Probably. Be the same. No way. Of course some would say the sport is already past saving. A matter of opinion.
20 years ago I'd say no, but when you look at how its' grown in Asia, I am not so sure. The problem is that F1 is its' only real place they 'advertise', and to quit F1 might be enough to kill Ferrari long-term (20+ years) How many of us knew of Ferrari F1 long before we ever saw a Ferrari on the streets? We all saw them on TV in F1 as kids, then we grow up, become more affluent, and now we can afford what we dreamed of when we were kids... do kids today even watch F1? I don't think so. I hope Ferrari notes that.
of course it can survive, it's doing so with Ferrari being such a poor showing over the hey days of Michael. but would it be as much ..no
Sport? It blows. But, those of us that say that grew up watching the evolution of it for the last 30-40-50+ years, and in that case, just about all sports today are nothing like what we grew up with. That's both good and bad. Ask a 20-25 year old and they may say it's great. Spectacle? it's OK I suppose.
You don't know what a 'poor showing' is. Go back before MS, when Ferrari was lucky to get a top-6. 1992, 93? somewhere in there they were awful.
Close to 50% of the fans are going to see Ferrari. No way F1 could continue without dramatic changes in that situation. Robb
It would become like IndyCar. People would only tune into the Monaco GP (similar to Indy 500). No one else would care to watch or attend except the diehard fans that stay through all kinds of weather. So yes...it would survive but require some life support like Monaco fan revenues to pay for the losses at other tracks.
Would it survive? Yes. But it wouldn't be the same, and it'll lose a ****-ton of money. Much more than the 100m they pay Ferrari annually just for turning up. People in the world these days are all for equality and socialism. All F1 teams have signed up for the agreement, they knew full well that Ferrari gets extra money, they don't care. That said, F1 has to adjust itself for the world economic situation. It can't say ''be rich enough or don't turn up at all'', because pretty soon there won't be many teams left, and none to replace them with. But that's a different discussion entirely. F1 without Ferrari is like Indycar without the Indy500, Nascar without Daytona...24h of Le Mans....somewhere else! I think even if Mclaren ceased to exist, it would be a tremendous blow to F1. The Mclaren/Ferrari battles are just part of F1.
Sure it can survive. But it would not be the same. And maybe without Ferrari people like BMW or Porsche would jump in. You can never tell. What I really wonder is-- could the Indy Racing League survive without the Indy 500 race? IMO, it can't. That, to me, is much worse than one team risking the entire series.
I think the better question is if Ferrari can survive without F1. I think both would be severely affected IMO (at least globally), but could be wrong. Now, may I ask why that question? I don't think Ferrari is considering that move, even when underperforming for years. Now that they're near the top, I really, really doubt it.
Under the old leadership, no it wouldn't survive. I think under the new leadership, they would successfully continue. All you need to do, is move GP's away from Ferrari's fan base, into new countries where the Ferrari fan base isn't as strong. Look at the stand's in Baku, lots and lots of Red Bull and Torro Rosso gear being worn by spectators. Red Bull is building a mythos, their drivers really draw people to the races. Red Bull seems to have moved on from the fiasco of multi 21.
Grand Prix racing pre-dated Ferrari by decades. If it does survive, it also could w/o Ferrari. I know numerous friends and I would still be there....
True! Look at Alfa and Bugatti in the 30's and Mercedes and Maserati in the 50's -- all powerhouses who pulled out and still GP racing continued and grew.
Of course F1 would survive, many people just love racing. I think a case could be made that it would prosper without Ferrari. As another has said, especially with the new management.
Prior to the Schumacher era F1 would have been fine with out Ferrari, there were more teams, engine suppliers, there was a lot more focused on the drivers.... by the early 2000s only two teams mattered (Ferrari & McLaren) at which time one could argue that F1 would fall apart with out either one of those teams.... flash forward to today, I don't think Ferrari is as important to the series, its been a while since they won a championship, and fans see more focused on drivers then teams these days.
Yes, and without Lotus, without Brabham, without McLaren, without Monaco... but surviving and living are not the same thing.
Lamborghini have continued very nicely since withdrawing it's F1 involvement. But F1 without Ferrari ? It would be like the Vatican without a residing Pope.
Anytime a manufacture leaves F1 its a shame. F1 NEEDS more manufactures period. I want to see Ferrari go toe to toe with Lamborghini or Ford more then an energy drink company using someone else engine.
