Zoom Ferrari hitting hard on F1's governance

Contrary to what has been given as a decisive reason by Honda, BMW, and Toyota for justifying their departures from Formula One, Ferrari insists that the real cause is not the economic crisis but rather the constant hammering the sport's authorities have dealt car manufacturers.

"In reality the steady trickle of desertion is more the result of a war against the big car manufacturers by those who managed the sport, than the effects of the economy that affected Formula 1 over the last years," a Ferrari statement issued on Wednesday declared.

The Italian team went so far as to compare the situation in F1 to Agatha Christie's famous novel Ten Little Indians.

"In Christie's detective novel the guilty person is only discovered when everybody else is dead, one after the other. Do we want to wait until this happens or should we write Formula 1's book with a different closing chapter?"

Ferrari blamed the political environment for the replacement of major manufacturers with independent operations which it believes cannot live up to the standards of Formula One, and even suggested that some may not have the funds to compete a full season.

"Over the last 12 months Honda, BMW, Bridgestone and this morning Toyota announced their retirements. In exchange, if one could call it that, Manor, Lotus (because of the team of Colin Chapman, Jim Clark and Ayrton Senna, to name a few, there is hardly more than the name), USF1 and Campos Meta arrived," the Ferrari statement elaborated.

"You might say 'same-same' because it is enough if there are participants. But that's not entirely true and then we've got to see if next year we'll be really as many in Bahrain for the first starting grid of the 2010 season and how many will make it to the end of the season."

Along with Ferrari, the only carmakers which remain involved in F1 are Mercedes and Renault – although the latter is reportedly reviewing its involvement beyond the 2010 season.

The 2010 grid is expected to count 13 teams, of which four will be making their debut.

Daniel BASTIEN
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