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Ferrari Threat to Quit F1
by Winston D'Arcy

10.2.05

Reuters News Agency has reported that Jean Todt has joined the elite ranks of Ferrari bosses who have threatened to quit the F1 game when things weren't going their way. The most famous instance of this was in 1964 when Enzo Ferrari was in dispute with the sport's governing bodies over their refusal to homologate the 250LM as a GT car. The F1 cars were entered by NART (North American Racing Team) for the last two races of the year and appeared in their blue and white livery.

The key to this latest revelation is Todt's statement that "we are a small company and we have to cover the costs of Formula One". In reality, there is no way that Ferrari can afford to trade financial punches with giants like Toyota, Honda and DaimlerChrysler, especially given the parlous state of parent company Fiat - another reason for siding with Bernie rather than the GPWC. The other reason is that Todt and Bernie are both racers.

It is possibly in Ferrari's interests to be the big fish in a smaller pond, as they were for many years. Unfortunately for the other teams, the current executive team seem to have eliminated the Scuderia's historical tendency to periodically shoot itself in the foot, which used to even things up.

The following text first appeared on the Reuters UK website
and is attributed to their London Office

"World champions Ferrari discussed leaving Formula One before agreeing last month to remain in the series until 2012, according to team boss Jean Todt.

Ferrari, the sport's glamour team and the only one to have competed in every championship since the first in 1950, were persuaded to stay by a $100 million (54 million pound) sweetener from Bernie Ecclestone, the Times newspaper said on Wednesday.

"We are a small company and we have to cover the costs of Formula One," Todt, also managing director of the Fiat-owned Italian carmaker, told the paper.

"We discussed very often leaving Formula One because it was costing too much money.

"Ferrari could have been in a position to stop being in Formula One. Yes, that is sure. The trend of the evolution of rising costs without extra revenues put the question on the agenda," added the Frenchman.

"At the end of the day, we have to act in the interests of Ferrari."

Ferrari stunned car makers planning for a possible rival series from 2008, when an existing commercial agreement with Ecclestone and the sport's governing body expires, by agreeing to sign on for another four years.

Todt said there had been no betrayal, despite the determined opposition of the other nine teams.

"Sooner or later the reality and the logic will take over," he said. "I understand that, for some, it doesn't make sense, but it will.

"We needed to agree the future for the sake of security. We couldn't just go off blind in a new direction and it was up to us to secure the future of Ferrari inside Formula One."

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