*** Ferrari Bailing from F-1? - Say it Ain't So ***

[LakeCleElum]

http://sportsyakima.com/2009/05/ferrari-says-it-wont-race-under-2010-rules/

(Just when I was about to get a Bernie Ecclestone Haircut!!!!!!!!)




Ferrari says it won’t race under 2010 rules

May 12, 2009 by The Associated Press

MILAN, Italy (AP) — The storied Ferrari team threatened to not race in Formula One next season unless the sport’s governing body revokes its new budget cap.

The Italian team, which has been involved in all 60 seasons of F1 competition, said Tuesday the new FIA guidelines were arbitrary and would set a double standard.

“The same rules for all teams, stability of regulations, the continuity of … endeavors to methodically and progressively reduce costs, and governance of Formula One are priorities for the future,” Ferrari said in a statement after a board meeting.
Ferrari team members react inside their team pit during the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday at the Circuit de Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, near Barcelona, Spain. The Ferrari team said Tuesday, May 12, 2009 it won't enter its cars in next season's Formula One championship unless the sport's governing body revokes its new budget cap. Ferrari, which has been involved in all 60 seasons of motor racing premier's championship, said the new FIA guidelines were arbitrary and would set up a double standard. It said equal rules for everyone are necessary for the sport to continue. "The same rules for all teams, stability of regulations, the continuity of the FOTA's endeavours to methodically and progressively reduce costs, and governance of Formula One are priorities for the futures," Ferrari said in a statement after a board meeting. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

Ferrari team members react inside their team pit during the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday at the Circuit de Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, near Barcelona, Spain. The Ferrari team said Tuesday, May 12, 2009 it won't enter its cars in next season's Formula One championship unless the sport's governing body revokes its new budget cap. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

“If these indispensable principles are not respected, and if the regulations decided for 2010 will not change, Ferrari does not intend to enter its cars in the next Formula One world championship.”

Ferrari said it hoped fans would understand this “painful choice.

FIA president Max Mosley has said the sport could survive without the Italian giant, although Formula One drivers have disagreed. The Formula One Teams Association has asked for urgent talks with the governing body over the budget cap.

Ferrari is one of F1’s richest teams. It is also one of its most successful, with 15 drivers’ and 16 constructors’ championships. Kimi Raikkonnen, in 2007, was the last Ferrari driver to win the title.

This season, Ferrari is off to its worst start. The team has only six points after five races, with Felipe Massa’s sixth-place finish in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix. He trails overall leader Jenson Button of Brawn GP by 38 points.

Ferrari has grown frustrated in recent years with what it sees as the autocratic leadership of Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone and Mosley.
In this Wednesday July 23, 2003 file photo Formula One Ferrari cars, built from 1949 till 2001 on display at the Nuerburgring circuit, western Germany. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

In this Wednesday July 23, 2003 file photo Formula One Ferrari cars, built from 1949 till 2001 on display at the Nuerburgring circuit, western Germany. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

“The board also expressed its disappointment about the methods adopted by the FIA in taking decisions of such a serious nature and its refusal to effectively reach an understanding with constructors and teams,” the team said.

“The rules of governance that have contributed to the development of Formula One over the last 25 years have been disregarded, as have the binding contractual obligations between Ferrari and the FIA itself regarding the stability of the regulations.”

Mosley is leading FIA’s push to curb costs, with a voluntary $60 million budget cap made available to teams. Teams that don’t adhere to the cap will not receive the same technical freedom, something Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has called “fundamentally unfair.”

Ferrari fears the new rules will effectively split F1 into two tiers, those that can live with the cap and enjoy the technical advantages and those that can’t.

In the first quarter of 2009, Ferrari reported turnover of $600 million and a trading profit of $73 million.

Former team boss Eddie Jordan said Ferrari’s reaction is a sign that it fears the new rules would prevent it from returning to the very top of the sport.

“What’s happening is the rearguard is changing,” he said. “The people that were traditionally at the front — the McLarens and the Ferraris — aren’t fighting it out (at the front) and they don’t like this.

“You’ve seen the emergence of new teams like Brawn, like Red Bull, and other teams that are getting to the front of the grid, and clearly the established teams don’t like it.”

[cl8ton]

Originally Posted by LakeCleElum

Ferrari says it won’t race under 2010 rules

So let it be said, so let it be done...next stop NASCAR (I don't blame them! Ferrari)
No worries...it will never happen Bernie has his nose firmly up the azz of Ferrari!

[jyl]

How can you determine what a team is spending? Will the FIA have auditors crawling through the team's accounts?

If anyone knows how the FIA and Eccelstone got control of "Formula One" and exactly what they have control of (Just the name? The tracks?What is "Formula One" in the legal sense?) I would be interested. Would it be feasible for the constructors to start a new series? Call it "Formula X" or "Grand Prix" or something.

[imcarthur]

It's a negotiating tactic. Other teams have already threatened too with more to come. They have until May 29 to say yay or nay for next year. From F1 Live:

"Renault could be the next car manufacturer to threaten to quit Formula One at the end of 2009.

Ferrari, F1's oldest and most famous name, sent the specialist and mainstream media into a spin on Tuesday by announcing that the FIA's budget cap plans for 2010 will lead to its withdrawal from the sport.

Toyota and Red Bull have made similar threats, while Mario Theissen said last week that the new regime would likely lead to the BMW board reassessing its commitment to F1.

Le Figaro is a leading French morning daily, and it claims: "According to our information, Renault will announce the same decision (as Ferrari's) on Wednesday.""

Ian

[legion]

Ferrari can't win if they can't outspend every other team....and without Ross Braun they can't win.

I say good riddance to bad rubbish. Ferrari already gets a bigger purse for winning than any other team. This year also marks the first time in 25 years Ferrari has not won an appeal to the FIA.

[GH85Carrera]

Toyota has outspent everyone. Money alone does not fix the problem. Ross Braun is the real talent. There has to be other managers of his talent.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by legion

Ferrari can't win if they can't outspend every other team....and without Ross Braun they can't win.

I say good riddance to bad rubbish. Ferrari already gets a bigger purse for winning than any other team. This year also marks the first time in 25 years Ferrari has not won an appeal to the FIA.

[Zeke]

This isn't the first time. Do we need any more drama from these people? How many times does it have to be said? Simplify the cars and race them. KERS doesn't help keep the costs down. They take one strep forward and 2 steps back. I'd get tired of them too.

Who is they? I don't know, all of them.

[Netspeed]

Originally Posted by jyl

How can you determine what a team is spending? Will the FIA have auditors crawling through the team's accounts?

If anyone knows how the FIA and Eccelstone got control of "Formula One" and exactly what they have control of (Just the name? The tracks?What is "Formula One" in the legal sense?) I would be interested. Would it be feasible for the constructors to start a new series? Call it "Formula X" or "Grand Prix" or something.

I was curious about that too. Here's what I found:

Regarding Bernie:

His control of the sport, which grew from his pioneering the sale of television rights in the late 1970s, is chiefly financial, but under the terms of the Concorde Agreement he and his companies also manage the administration, setup and logistics of each Formula One grand prix.

And regarding the Concorde Agreement:

The Concorde Agreement is a contract between the FIA, the Formula One teams and Formula One Administration which dictates the terms by which the teams compete in races and take their share of the television revenues and prize money. There have in fact been five separate Concorde Agreements, all of whose terms were kept strictly secret: The first in 1981, others in 1987, 1992, 1997, and 1998, and the current agreement in 2007

All I can say is "Wow"....what a monopoly. Everyone dislikes him yet they keep giving him the power.

[bell]

Renault released their statement today.....

[Noney]

Bernie is a repulsive little creep and I would like nothing more than to see the teams break away and start their own series, but that seems HIGHLY unlikely. Ferrari, Renault, et al. are just throwing temper tantrums and will eventually get their way.

[Zeke]

I'm not so sure there isn't another entity that can hold F1 together and do the necessary promotions. The last mutiny/standoff would have worked if Ferrari hadn't signed with Bernie.

Ironic isn't it? I say fvvk Ferrari. Brawn did.

[Netspeed]

Originally Posted by milt

i'm not so sure there isn't another entity that can hold f1 together and do the necessary promotions. The last mutiny/standoff would have worked if ferrari hadn't signed with bernie.

Ironic isn't it? I say fvvk ferrari. Brawn did.

+1

[David]

What's really funny (or sad) is that the budget cap is only on car performance or development. It's my understanding that it wouldn't include the engines, the buildings, the motorhomes (mobile castles), salaries, travel, etc.

[Zeke]

On the subject of "motorhomes"

Guess who



McLaren


again




Red Bull

[legion]

I swapped my innocence for pride
Crushed the end within my stride
Said I'm strong now I know that I'm a leaver
I love the sound of you walking away, you walking away
Mascara bleeds a blackened tear, oh
And I am cold, yes, I'm cold
But not as cold as you are
I love the sound of you walking away, you walking away
I love the sound of you walking away, walking away, hey hey

Why don't you walk away?
Why don't you walk away?

Why don't you walk away?
No buildings will fall down
Won't you walk away
No quake will split the ground
Why don't you walk away
The sun won't swallow the sky
Why don't you walk away?
Statues will not cry

Don't you walk away
Why don't you walk away?
Why don't you walk away?
Why don't you walk away?
Hey

mmmmm

I cannot turn to see those eyes
As apologies may rise
I must be strong and stay an unbeliever
And love the sound of you walking away, you walking away
Mascara bleeds into my eye, oh
And I'm not cold, I am old
At least as old as you are
I hear the sound of you walking away,you walking away
I hear the sound of you walking away, walking away hey hey
And as you walk away
Oh, as you walk away

And as you walk away
My headstone crumbles down
As you walk away
The Hollywood winds will howl
As you walk away
The Kremlin's falling
As you walk away
Radio Four is static

As you walk away
Oh, as you walk away
Oh, as you walk away
Oh, as you walk away
Hey

The stab of stiletto
On a silent night
Stalin smiles and Hitler laughs
Churchill claps Mao Zedong on the back

[herr_oberst]

F1 is a pathetic shell of what it used to be. Lots of the blame can be laid at the feet of Jean Marie Balestre. As FIA commissioner, he was so disliked that a twerp like Ecclestone was able to leverage his knowledge of the sport and his business acumen to his complete advantage. Now we have his parrot Max Mosley "in charge" and the sport has become nothing but the WWE. Ferrari deserves what they have bargained for. But where does that leave us as fans?

Moto GP and Superbike, that's where.

mo

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by milt

On the subject of "motorhomes"

Thanks for the pix, Milt. I always wondered about those palaces, they talk about them all the time on the broadcasts but they never show 'em.

(actually, they are a little smaller than I thought they would be)

mo

[David]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

F1 is a pathetic shell of what it used to be. Lots of the blame can be laid at the feet of Jean Marie Balestre. As FIA commissioner, he was so disliked that a twerp like Ecclestone was able to leverage his knowledge of the sport and his business acumen to his complete advantage. Now we have his parrot Max Mosley "in charge" and the sport has become nothing but the WWE. Ferrari deserves what they have bargained for. But where does that leave us as fans?

Moto GP and Superbike, that's where.

mo

No doubt! How about that American bloke, Ben Spies! Win or crash.

[Netspeed]

Originally Posted by 125shifter

No doubt! How about that American bloke, Ben Spies! Win or crash.

+1 on the MotoGP. Those guys are phenomenal!

On a side note...Nascar is the antithesis of Formula One which is why I hate them. Hopefully their marketing share continues to decline as they are a relic from the 70's.