I think Ferrari should go to Le Mans, I think that is the also one of the spiritual homes of Ferrari. F-1 has become so controlled, I think the Lemans LMP1 is the place to new technology to be developed. If anyone a hybrid racing car Ferrari should be there!
I certainly don't think Ferrari should leave F1, but if the Le Mans rules were such that a non-diesel could win then I think they should go for it. As long as Michael's neck has healed properly!
Despite the happy face people like Christian Horner are putting on F1, (and) the complete pull-out of the Japanese manufacturers, F1 has been left in a shambles which is down to Bernie's greed and Max's power lust. Does Todt bring in a clean slate? The only offical statement he's made was a window dressing announcement the day he took the helm. We may only imagine that Todt is on the charm offensive and attempting to mend a lot of fences. To suggest Le Mans is a second tier event is misguided. Le Mans remains the most important race in the world and is still a platform for manufacturers to demonstrate new technologies in a very diverse field of entries unlike F1 which under Max has become a NASCAResque spec series with absolutely no mechanical diversity. Le Mans was and remains the very making of top manufacturers from Bentley to Ferrari, Ford, Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz and more recently Audi as each of these companies may trace their success to victory at Le Mans. Anyone calling Le Mans a second tier event may want to say that to the likes of Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen, Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich or David Brabham and see what their reaction is. FM
While I have the greatest respect for what Le Mans is and was there is no escaping the fact that is a once a year event.
All motor racing is at least one tier down from F1. Personally I would say that Le Mans is probably the 2nd most important racing event in the world, after F1. I think winning at Le Mans holds more cache than winning the Indy 500, Bathurst, The World Rally Championship, or whatever the NASCAR people compete for. It is second tier, but it is a tier higher than most other forms of motorsport!
BS on this. F1 is becoming the top tier spec series. Granted the 24h is only once a year but that once a year event encompasses ALL the F1 events in a single season. Carol
Le Mans is an event for has-beens and never-weres. People like McNish or Wurz never amounted to much of anything in F1. The "racing" is artificially enhanced by running various classes giving the impression of passing. The prototype cars win with Diesel fuel. That says about it. PS: Phylotic?
Sorry to rain on your drivers parade but, ALL motor racing including LMS have taken most of thier technology from F1. I think even Carol and John would agree with that..
Right now I'd rather watching endurance racing over F1. It's like having 3-4 races going at once, and it is more exciting to see the passing...albeit versus different classes of cars. The spirit of the race being lost over reliability is a good argument, but that just means they can run full-on for more of the race. I've found myself a little bored during some F1 races, but LM keeps me up and interested for hours. I can understand why others don't like it, though. Personally I don't mind if Ferrari keeps focus on F1 or changes to LM. I'm fine watching all the other manufacturers that are currently in LM, and like to see variations from car to car. It would be great if they could stabilize the differences of gas/diesel and find a good middle ground.
Diesels make for dull racing. Where's the glorious sound? Where are the high revs? What happened to pushing the limits instead of trying to win via fuel economy? The '70s and '80s were the heyday of Le Mans for me. I really wish Ferrari would have pushed the F40, F50 and FXX in the GT1 class when they had a chance. But understandably, F1 is Numero Uno and extremely costly, so no surprise. The last massive efforts Ferrari made were with the early '70s 512S and 512M doing battle with the mighty 917s. Some tried to race the heavy 512BBs, but they had nothing for the turbo 935s. The F40, F50 and FXX had potential to make big waves, if only Ferrari would have cared....
F1 has always been #1 for me. It would be a tragic day if Ferrari ever pulled out. One thing's for certain, it won't happen while LDM is alive/in charge!! I'd lose all interest in the sport of F1 if Ferrari bailed and McLaren ran the table.
It may be true Le Mans is as one event bigger than individual F1 races. At the end of the day F1 still got the ultimate Ferrari's and Le Man got diesels, which seem to appeal more and more to farmers and truck drivers. Apart from Le Mans itself, the rest of the races are unbelievably boring and dire.
You need to catch the beginning 45 or so minutes of the 24H or the 'Ring race this year. Porsche vs Ford GT in some of the best racing I've seen in years. I'm happy to see FCar's in GT endurance races still.
Have you been living under a rock? LDM wanted to pull out of F1 this year... Nothing is certain! LeMans isn't really that popular. Sure it's popular here because we are a car forum but even non motorsport people would know something about F1.
While I don't like the Diesel LMP cars, improving fuel economy is often more "pushing the limits" from an engineering point of view than just increasing power...
Not really. He wanted to bring Mad Max in line and get the two classes regulations for 2010 thrown out and managed to get that accomplished. The whole FOTA pirate series for 2010 was nothing but a giant bluff. And it worked. Point in case: Right now Ferrari is warning on its own website of more teams leaving F1 as it could be detrimental to the sport. That is now, that we actually look at an increase in team numbers. Imagine what a FOTA series would have done to the sport: It would have had less cars on the grid.
I don't think he was threatening to go to LeMans instead though. I think the threat was to start an F1-like series.
