Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo has called for sweeping changes to Formula One and branded the new uncompetitive teams as ‘a joke’.
Speaking to Autocar at a private dinner in London di Montezemolo launched a thinly veiled attack at the new entrants to the sport.
"There is a need to have competitive teams," he said. "F1 is like soccer. It needs heroes and it needs big teams. You cannot equalise everything. We need to avoid having too many small teams because it means too many compromises."
Di Montezemolo revealed that he favoured running a third car, or giving an identical Ferrari to another team to run.
"Giving this car to a good young driver or Valentino Rossi would be better than a team being four seconds behind," he said.
Ferrari’s boss also proposed revisions to spice up the sport.
"Do we need to race at two in the afternoon when everyone is at the sea?" he said. "Could we have two races per meeting? Do races need to last so long? F1 is not an endurance race. We need races to be short and tough."
He also called for a return to testing during the season: "F1 is the only sport in the world where there is no training."
However di Montezemolo also admitted that Ferrari has considered re-entering endurance sports car racing. "I’m very impressed with Le Mans but we can’t do both [F1] because of money and know-how and it’s only one race," he said.
"Instead if we can put together an endurance series, either 12 or 24 hours, with other car makers and race around the world, that would be good," he said.
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Re: Ferrari: 'New F1 teams a joke'
That may win them your support, but it wont actually make them much money. That kind of merchandise is not an everday purchase, it's a once per year event, if that, that goes hand-in-hand with attending a GP and as such a premium will be loaded, and enough suckers will pay. It's not unlike charging £10+ for the photographic advertorial that passes as a "souvenir programme" at the theatre or concerts.
Re: Ferrari: 'New F1 teams a joke'
Why doesn't Ferrari concentrate on its own performance, the joke at the moment is how the pre-season favourites are currently so off the pace, & as a huge life long Ferrari fan it really hurts to say that!
Re: Ferrari: 'New F1 teams a joke'
Doesn't F1 (like football) also need the smaller teams to convince people that it is not just some bland corporate event...? Minardi always managed to attract a fair few fans to the GPs I went to...It's not just about the front runners. Having clocked the eye-watering prices for one of the new teams' recently-released clothing range, however, it seems clear that the new guys share much the same marketing philosophy as the "big" teams i.e. that the fan is a source of revenue to be shamelessly milked even in the midst of a recession.
The new team that finally realises that making gear affordable to fans is good promotion (as it helps to build a supporter base and having a large number of fans decked out in your colours at the track helps the team's visibility) will get my support. The new teams are supposed to be all about doing F1 differently.
Come on Richard Branson!!! Marketing/promotion is supposed to be your strong suit...