Ferrari still rumored to defect from F1 to Le Mans

Filed under: Motorsports, Ferrari



Would Formula One be Formula One without Ferrari? And would Ferrari be Ferrari without Formula One? Those are the questions circulating the motorsport press lately as Ferrari has hinted once again that, if the rules are not changed and the spectacle restored, the Scuderia could pack up its prancing horses and leave the series.

The rumors have been fueled by two developments. On the one hand, Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo has repeatedly expressed his disapproval with the FIA - presided over by his long-time protégé Jean Todt - over the current regulations that have restricted the teams to using what he views as lackluster turbocharged V6 engines.

On the other, the team's #1 driver Fernando Alonso was on hand at the Circuit de la Sarthe last weekend to wave the flag to start the 24 Hours of Le Mans, fueling speculation that the company could switch from F1 to Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship, where the rules are more flexible. The AF Corse team closely affiliated with the factory finished first in the LMGTE Pro category at Le Mans this year with a Ferrari 458 Italia.

It has been years since Ferrari competed at the top level in sports car racing, and while it dominated Le Mans with six consecutive victories in the early 1960s and continued to notch victories in endurance racing for several more years, Le Mans was won four years in a row by Ford before the Italian team left the field. Le Mans has subsequently been dominated by well-known marques like Porsche and, more recently, Audi. Of course Ferrari could technically compete in both forms of motorsport, but major automakers seldom if ever field works entries in both.

This isn't the first time Ferrari has hinted at leaving F1 behind, first with the threat of forming a break-away series when Bernie Ecclestone proved intractable and more recently with rumors of the team's moving to Le Mans. For its part, Ferrari insists in the statement below that it is in F1 for the long haul, and has indeed remained the one constant on the grid since the formation of the series.Continue reading Ferrari still rumored to defect from F1 to Le Mans

Ferrari still rumored to defect from F1 to Le Mans originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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