Ferrari threatens to quit F1

London : Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne has said the team could quit Formula 1 if they do not approve of the direction taken by new owners Liberty Media.

The Ferrari chief pinpointed proposals for a new engine design from 2021 as he made the threat in a conference call with investors.

Marchionne said F1 had been “part of our DNA since the day we were born”.

But he added: “If we change the sandbox to the point it becomes unrecognisable, I don’t want to play any more.”

His concerns follow objections from both Mercedes and Renault over plans for a new engine design that were presented jointly on Tuesday by governing body the FIA and the F1 Group, which was bought by Liberty earlier this year.

They set a confrontational tone for the major meeting on 7 November of F1’s strategy group, which includes the FIA, F1 and the six leading teams.

Liberty is expected to outline further details of its plans for the sport, including how to instigate a budget cap.

Marchionne said: “Liberty has got a couple of good intentions in all of this, one of which is to reduce the cost of execution for the team, which I think is good.

“There are a couple of things we don’t necessarily agree with, one of which is the fact that somehow powertrain uniqueness is not going to be one of the drivers of distinctiveness of the participants’ line-up. I would not countenance this going forward.

“The fact we now appear to be at odds in terms of the strategic development of this thing, and we see the sport in 2021 taking on a different air, is going to force some decisions on the part of Ferrari. 

Marchionne likened some of Liberty’s ideas to those witnessed in the American Nascar stock-car racing series, which effectively uses standard cars and employs a number of artificial means to keep racing close. 

He said: “I don’t want to play Nascar globally, I just don’t.”