How credible is that, Luca? The steering wheels were essentially the same ten years ago when Ferrari was winning tons of races with Brawn, Byrne, Todt and Schumacher. The difference is that Ferrari has not been winning races lately unless Vettel's Renault engine failed. That makes you look like a petulant child that is throwing it's toys from the pram when it can't have it's cake and eat it.Luca de Momtezemolo wrote:We'll leave unless there is a change in direction. The sport had become too artificial. A steering wheel is now a computer covered in buttons and the fans no longer understand. Ferrari will stay in Formula 1 so long as the sport gives us back something for the development of technology of our production cars, otherwise not.
Ferrari have pushed the FOTA and you were the first president of the association. FOTA essentially now makes the rules with the majority in the F1 commission. The good guys have to accept the rules of the sport even when they benefit the majority and not the own individual agenda. Luca will have get used to the fact that Ferrari lost their secret veto which was the reward for leaving the GPMA and joining with Max and Bernie in 2005. Many people now will remember the move for what it really was. Opportunistic and power hungry at the height of the biggest run that that any team had ever had in F1. Even in summer 2005 Ferrari was already on it's way down, but thy did not know it then.
Six years later Ferrari is just one of twelve teams. They can claim the longest uninterrupted presence in the world championship and most victories, but they are not the winning machine they were ten years ago. Michael Schumacher is not winning races and so is Ferrari. Other teams have come down from the top of the F1 pile and quit F1. There was a time when Lotus was winning races like no other team and then they lost it. The same can happen to Ferrari. Ferrari needs to demonstrate that it is capable of winning in a fair and equitable competition when the rules are not stacked in their favour.
The claims that Luca makes now are powered by the hubris of a team living off former glory. As it stands Ferrari cannot claim to be a top team any more. Ferrari victories in the last year came mainly when the real top team Re Bull had mechanical failures. Take those off and your team looks like the second or the third also ran. And 2009 did look worse when your team also finished way behind.
At close inspection Ferrari simply cannot afford to go through with the threat it makes. F1 is still essentially the only advertising that Ferrari make for their products. If they quit F1 there will be a rapid decline of the brand recognition and the brand value and Montezemolo knows this.
So why are we getting these empty threats every two months now? I think I know the reason. Simply put Ferrari is with their back to the wall and Monte knows this. He has no real power as long as he is alone and has no support by the majority of the teams. They mostly vote with Red Bull and other constructors now. We have enough competitive engines in F1 and no team needs to kiss Luca's hairy posterior for Maranello's lumps. Even Sauber can afford not to support Ferrari in the engine decision.
Time to wake up Luca! Put the money where your mouth is or shut up!
Manchild, you are killing me with the awesome graphics of your's!
