Can F1 survive without Ferrari?

Lamborghini in F1 went unnoticed until you mentioned it !!!

 

There is a serious engineering company behind the Austrian-backed team, but it prefers to be called Red Bull by the name of its sponsor.

It's a bit like if Ferrari had been called the Marlboro Team when tobacco advertising was still allowed.

 

Yep, I take zero issue with Red Bull being called...well Red Bull. If they'd been called Porsche or Lamborghini I'm not sure it would add so much more to the experience.

 

I never liked "rebranded" teams, no matter how rich they are. That goes for Red Bull but for Mercedes too. Teams like Williams are more "authentic". At some time there was a guy called Williams who founded a team with his name. Red Bull is called Red Bull just because someone paid.

 

A Lamborghini F1 engine heard at full song would hardly go unnoticed. Not great results however.

 

Yes, but over time, things change. Racing today is much different than it was in 1935, or 1950.

Yes, I noted that early on here.

and Cooper, and VanWall, and Tyrrell, and March, and...

Toyota could not pull it off, and they reportedly spent more money than Ferrari, or McLaren, or anyone else at the time, and it was only a few years ago.
Red Bull is the old Renault works team. Or was it the old Bennetton team? LOL

Williams started racing using a March chassis, but this was all waaay back before carbon fibre, wind tunnels and expensive drivers.

Not many teams can start from scratch, the stupid costs make sure of that.
If you have about 400 million dollars you can probably do it.

 

No, and Ferrari knows it.

Ferrari pulls out and then what remains?

Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Honda...

What would the point be really?

BHW

 

Of course it would survive. It is like asking if LMP1 would survive if Audi dropped out. Oh wait...that might not be the best example..

 

LOL!!!

 

If Ferrari was pulling out, and also Renault, Mercedes and Honda (who will eventually), F1 will continue with independent teams, lower budgets, probably a cheaper formula, like it was in the 60s.
New small team would join without being crushed within a few years by the big manufacturers and their unlimited resources.

 

I dont care what Ferrari does. They are not F1. I will watch if they are there or not. Its just another team. Sure they have been there for many years. Others were before them and the racing continued. If they leave I wont change my F1 view at all. I will watch.

Just looked outside....world turning. Ferrari or not.

I watch LeMans without Audi and Porsche. The race is bigger than they are. I love racing.

 

F1 can survive without Ferrari and Ferrari without F1 but they'd both be better off together

 

+1

 

For manufactures, competing in series like F1 and WEC is about market place. They want
to compete and demonstrate their technology against manufactures in their market segment.

Were Ferrari to pull out of F1 (and where did this rumor start anyway?), what would the point
be for Mercedes-Benz to remain in? Likewise, down market manufactures like Renault and
Honda may take up the draft but now we're talking about factories that also participate in
touring car and sports car racing.

Honda? They're now in Indy Cars, sports cars and touring cars for example. There would
be no emphasis to continue in F1 with the likes of Ferrari no longer there.

Without Ferrari F1 would devolve into another Indy Car like spec series which IIRC, are
naughty words in this forum.

BHW

 

Doesn't Mercedes also compete in touring car racing with the A class?

 

You are a REAL motor racing fan.

 

There will always be individuals interested in racing in F1, and others deciding to create teams. That's how most teams started in the past, and I don't see why that passion would die because Ferrari, Honda, Renault & Co would leave.

Without the threat of from big the manufacturers and their crushing resources, small chassis builders would decide to step in, small entrepreneurs would form their own teams, racing engines would be found, and the sport would survive.

I am sure that a more affordable F1 would keep the sponsors, probably interested in smaller budgets too.

 

The question was basically how much viewership would drop if Ferrari left.
Enough that the TV commercial sponsors would for a rate drop?

And we have discussed lowering costs ad nauseum, it can be done, but you
have to keep ALL safety innovations, and since F1 is the pinnacle of street car
development, you have to have that, too.

I dreamed that if I ever won the lottery again I'd develop and sponsor my own
series based on F-5000 types of cars and 350CI stock block motors.

 

An Indy Car like spec series?.........Hmmmm........:

Simple spec engines that are all but identical, teams with limited budgets and no opportunity to make developments that could give them a big advantage of their rivals, open scrutineering so that all the teams can see how the cars have been designed and built, and loads of street races instead of racing on traditional circuits?

Hang on! - Isn't that Liberty Media's plan for F1 anyway?

 

NASCAR V8s not a bad idea, Toyota Ford and Chevrolet all produce suitable engines. They even have that newfangled fuel injection!

 

Don't they have the Thunder Series in Australia along these lines ?

 

Yep, I go for that.

You don't need complicated engines to go fast, and it can be done at a fraction of the cost F1 needs now. NASCAR V8 would fit the bill nicely.

Also, people who like noise (I know they are somewhere) would be happy .

 

I would anticipate that F1 would loose some viewers initially if Ferrari left, but it would recover its audience after a while if it maintains the sport in good health.

Good racing is what attracts people. Ferrari doesn't race in NASCAR, IRL, WRC, WEC, and these series still survive and prosper. I cannot see why F1 would be different.

 

Could F1 operate without Ferrari?

Sure. It'd be Indycar.

But they'd lose the (somewhat strained) claim to being a "manufacturer's series".
Just another spec racing series.