Ferrari and McLaren Unite

mpatrizio · Jan 30, 2009

McLaren and Ferrari forge closer ties
Friday, 30 January 2009

LONDON (Reuters) - McLaren and Ferrari, once the most bitter of Formula One rivals, are forging ever closer ties off the track as teams present a united front to the sport's rulers.

Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni spent a day at McLaren's Woking factory Thursday, meeting team boss Ron Dennis and other staff.

"If you had told me a year ago that I would be doing this I would not have believed you," he told reporters at a media dinner co-hosted by the two teams.

McLaren were fined a record $100 million (70 million pounds) in 2007 and stripped of all their constructors' points for their involvement in a spying controversy over leaked Ferrari technical data in their possession.

Champions Ferrari also started legal action against their rivals, with Dennis and other executives questioned by Italian police. The action was later dropped after a McLaren apology.

Since then, the climate has changed with Jean Todt handing over as Ferrari boss to Stefano Domenicali while Dennis is due to step down as McLaren principal on March 1 to make way for Martin Whitmarsh.

The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) was set up last July to represent the teams in talks with the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) and commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

FOTA is headed by Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, with Dennis and Whitmarsh visiting the Italian team's Maranello factor for a meeting last season as the urgent need for cost cutting became apparent.

Montezemolo, who has criticised Ecclestone's running of the sport, described Dennis earlier this month as "a first-class person from a first-class team" and said Formula One needed great competition on the track and great unity off it.

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While FOTA have agreed significant savings with the FIA for this season and beyond, they want Ecclestone to hand over far more of the sport's revenues to them than the 50 percent they currently receive.

Dennis told the official Formula One website (http://www.formula1.com) that McLaren and Ferrari were "working extremely closely together" and he would devote more of his time to FOTA activities.

"The result of our cooperation, supported by all the other teams, has already been profound," he said.

"The cost-cutting measures that FOTA put forward were agreed by (FIA President) Max Mosley, when we met him in Monte Carlo on December 10, and were taken further when FOTA met again, this time without Max, in London on January 8.

"As such, FOTA has already achieved great things, and it will achieve even greater things in the weeks, months and years to come.

"We're not complacent; we're not reluctant to embrace radical change; we're not hidebound by on-track rivalries," added Dennis.

"No, working together for the good of the future of Formula One, we'll continue to devise powerful strategies and innovations intended to improve our sport so as to make it more affordable, more environmentally friendly and more appealing to spectators and TV viewers."

Source: Reuters
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This should get Bernie's attention....

ferraridude615 · Jan 30, 2009

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73074
Link to autosport article on the same thing.

Favorite part of the article:
"There is no suggestion that such friendship between the two teams marks an end to their competitive spirit - as Colajanni made clear to tell McLaren that Ferrari's own trophy cabinet at Maranello was much bigger than the one he was shown in Woking."

anguruso · Jan 30, 2009

^
aaah my god, what a jerk. I'm sure Mclaren were already aware of that.

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