Ferrari could quit Formula One at the end of 2020 if the team does not agree with the plans of the sports’ new owners, the boss of the Italian carmaker has warned.
President Sergio Marchionne said F1 had been ‘part of our DNA since the day we were born’ on a conference call discussing Ferrari’s financial results on Thursday.
“But if we change the sandbox to the point where it becomes an unrecognizable sandbox, I don’t want to play anymore,” he said. “I don’t want to play NASCAR globally, I just don’t.”
US-based Liberty Media took over F1 this year with big plans to add more razzmatazz, concerts and celebrities. And Chase Carey, who became F1 chief executive after the long reign of flamboyant ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone, has said he wants a ‘Super Bowl’ build-up to each race.
“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,” Marchionne said. “There are a couple of things we don’t necessarily agree with,” he added, including plans for a new engine design from 2021.
“I think it needs to be absolutely clear that unless we find a set of circumstances, the results of which are beneficial to the maintenance of the brand, and the marketplace, and to the strengthening of the unique position for Ferrari, Ferrari will not play,” he said.
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