Ferrari has moved to deny reports team boss Mattia Binotto warned the company could pull out of Formula 1 over the budget cap.
Currently, there is a great deal of discussion going on between teams, Liberty Media and the FIA over cost-cutting measures to cope with the financial fallout of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Much of the recent focus has been on the budget cap, with an informal agreement to cut the initial $175m spending limit to $150m, though Ferrari rejected a proposal to reduce it further to $145m in 2021 and then $130m for 2022.
Binotto then explained why that cap was an issue for Ferrari.
“The $145m level is already a new and demanding request compared to what was set out last June,” he told The Guardian in an article published on Wednesday.
“It cannot be attained without further significant sacrifices, especially in terms of our human resources.
“If it was to get even lower, we would not want to be put in a position of having to look at other further options for deploying our racing DNA.”
That last line was interpreted as Binotto suggested Ferrari could consider leaving F1 and assigning the resources it currently uses in other series.
However, in a statement, the Scuderia insisted they remain committed to the sport.
“We would like to clarify what Mattia said in his interview with published yesterday night,” the statement began.
“He never mentioned about Scuderia Ferrari quitting F1, on the contrary, he said that we would not want to be put in a position of having to look at further options, besides continuing racing in F1, for deploying our racing DNA, in case the budget cap would be even more drastically reduced, putting at risk hundreds of workplaces.
“The misunderstanding was raised by the misleading headline of the article which was published at first and was immediately corrected.”
While that makes sense reading the comments again, the assumption of Ferrari threatening to leave F1 perhaps shouldn’t be surprising given they’ve done it several times before.
And on this issue of the budget cap specifically, while Red Bull is partnering them in opposition to some of the more extreme ideas, such as McLaren’s push for a $100m cap, Ferrari is somewhat alone in wanting to maintain an elevated level of spending as even Mercedes is under pressure to reduce costs by parent company Daimler.
Binotto though went further in explaining the Maranello outfit’s argument.
“In F1, we have all sorts of teams with different characteristics. They operate in different countries, under different legislation and with their own ways of working,” he said.
“Therefore it is not simple and straightforward to make structural changes simply by cutting costs in a linear fashion.
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“We are well aware that F1 and indeed the whole world right now is going through a particularly difficult time because of the pandemic.
“However, this is not the time to react in a hurry as there’s a risk of making decisions on the back of this emergency without clearly evaluating all the consequences.
“One should not forget that companies play a role in the social fabric of a nation. They are not just there to make a profit,” he added.
Ferrari has also always considered themselves the beacon of maintaining F1’s DNA and claims that would be at risk if levels are reduced too far.
“F1 has to be the pinnacle of motorsport in terms of technology and performance. It must be attractive for the car manufacturers and the sponsors who want to be linked to this most prestigious category,” Binotto said.
“If we restrict costs excessively then we run the risk of reducing the level considerably, bringing it ever closer to the lower formulae.”