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My question is can F1 exist without Ferrari? and do you agree that Ferrari didnt contribute alots of innovations into F1 as other British team did, noticeably the Lotus team. If you ask me, i would say Lotus was the greatest F1 team before their demise in 1994.
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My opinion is that F1 can survive without Ferrari. Although Ferrari is the only team to compete since the creation of the F1 Championship it is only a marketing icon, like all the other teams. It's basicly the same idea with Lotus in the 70's....sooner or later the success will fade away and some other team will come to the front pages of all news papers....it's more or less like Mclaren in the 80's....Benneton and Williams in the 90's.
F1 is ciclical one team has success from a couple of seasons then it fades away.
In term of engineering innovation, it seems to me that British has contributed more than any other nations in F1, whereas others, Ferrari, relyed mainly on tradition. If it wasnt Fiat's financial back up in the last 30 years, I douted we would still see Ferrari today. I mean, they do make art, but not cars.
"In term of engineering innovation, it seems to me that British has contributed more than any other nations in F1, whereas others, Ferrari, relyed mainly on tradition. If it wasnt Fiat's financial back up in the last 30 years, I douted we would still see Ferrari today. I mean, they do make art, but not cars."
above statement shows ignorance...
fact is, most all chassis is built in England (even CART chassis). which means that TRADITIONALLY, England has an upper hand in chassis design.
another fact is that teams from Germany, Italy, France also developed F1 cars paralell to teams from Britain... you think these guys stole engineering innovation from brits to make their cars better?
Engineering innovations comes from necessity, not Britain.
Ferrari does not rely on tradition to win. they rely on thier own research and development to get a winning car.
and for you to say they make art and not cars... LMAO!!
come on dude, if it was art, it would be in the museum, not on the road.
(and if it is art, its the only art i know that can spank Aston Martins).
Yes, F1 could exist without Ferrari. But, F1 is a brand which is built as much from its history as well as the image of the current competitors. Ferrari have been in F1 making the whole car, chassis engine and gearbox from the start. There have been many teams come and go in the history of F1, each during their heyday as good or better than ferrari. Those with longer memories (probably because we're older) recall when Cooper, Brabham, Lotus, Williams, McLaren et-al were dominant some of these teams have gone. Some people fear Ferrari are dominating the sport too much, but this phase will pass and see Ferrari only equal or lesser to the next winning team. Somehow Ferrari keep going and even through low times are the epitome of what F1 stands for. When Ferrari were in the doldrums in the late 80s & early 90s many F1 fans bemoaned this fact, that this once great team were failing, this suggests Ferrari is intrinsic to F1. However F1 is not dependant on Ferrari, but I feel F1 timelss place as the pinnacle of motorsport (despite poor racign and limitation on technology) is bolstered due to Ferraris constant involvement. If Ferrari left there would be less history to draw on and F1s value could be lost.
I think Ferraris technical input is underplayed, yes customer teams or garagistes as they used to be called (i.e. british) have added innovation to the chassis and aerodynamics, but Ferrari have always integrated those and the engine gearbox, only now being seen as a vital part of design. Think of their classic engine, the V6s, the flat 12 and the wide angled V6 turbo. Plus their gearboxes, transverse when the so called "chassis experts" garagistes where running outboard longiudenal units, semi automatic transmissions, bodyworkless chassis (albeit beaten by ATS to it) have all been innovations.
