If Ferrari left F1, What would be the impact?
Lets face it, all privateer teams that have become iconic names in F1, became so because they became multiple constructor world champion defeating Ferrari and its huge funding and resources in the process. From Maclaren, Williams, Renault, Redbull to even Mercedes, the sweetness of the win was that they were able to defeat Ferrari. I mention Mercedes because when they returned to the formula after a very long absence, they needed to beat the very best but most importantly Ferrari to re-establish their status in the modern F1 world.
This bring us to the recently asked question; What would be the impact if Ferrari decides to leave F1 in 2021 to form a competing new formula?
There are two main scenarios that come to my mind:-
Scenario 1:- All the other engine manufacturer teams choose to buck the trend and stay with Liberty and F1.
Scenario 2: All the engine manufacturer teams stick together and leave F1 for a new split away formular.
Ok, let us take a closer look at each of these scenarios.
Scenario. 1, Mercedes would become the big Honcho in place of Ferrari. The prestige of beating Mercedes would have the same appeal and effect for privateer teams as it did when Ferrari was the Big Honcho. But this scenario would only happen if Libertry were to make a similar concord deal to the one Ecclestone made with Ferrari. But would it be satisfying for Mercedes to be the benchmark in Ferrari's absence. Besides, Mercedes would always be in Ferrari's shadow unless they are beating the Ferrari on track. Hence, this scenario may be great for Liberty and F1 but not fully for Mercedes. It may also work for the other Manufacturer teams as Mercedes is the team to beat at the moment. Even so, deep down it would not be completely satisfying if they did not also beat Ferrari in the process. That said, this is the only possible scenario that would ensure that F1 continues to retain most of its appeal in the absence of Ferrari.
Scenario 2, this is the worst case scenario for Liberty. It would spell out in NEON LIGHT shining bright day and night that Liberty has failed in their management of the sport. The NEON LIGHT would say "Liberty destroyed F1". In this scenario, we would have a manufacturer racing formula alongside a purely privateer formula. Manufacturers with any credibility will seek to pitch their wits against the might of Ferrari and Mercedes. The problem with this path is that there are only three engine manufacturer teams in F1; Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault. Honda is purely an engine supplier to the privateer teams, hence would remain with whichever formular the privateer teams decide to remain. It is therefore possible that all the privateer teams would all run Honda engines as it would most likely be the fastest engine in the privateer formula with the absence of the Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault engines.
The real question is, would the manufacturer series work? The obvious and biggest problem is, they lack the numbers to fill the grid with respectable and entertaining competition. Six cars or possibly eight cars; should Honda purchase the Torro Rosso team and move to the Manufacturer series; would not provide half as much spectacle to the Privateer series sporting 22 cars or more. It may take some time to galvanize participation from other manufacturers eyeing F1, but the return of Toyota and the possible joining by Alfa Romeo, Porsche and Maybe Peogeot and Ford may well give this formula the steam it needs to get going. That would be an 18 car grid already but surely not so easy to come by. Mind you, car manufacturing teams like Mclaren, may well find this split of series more agreeable to their business and brand.
Anything but the current shape of f1 would be greatly dissatisfying to the fans. The end result would be that most of the current fans base may be split between the two series. And some may be lost altogether. Until confidence is restored by one or both of the new series, fan decline shall continue to occur for each season leading to the point where some semblance of a workable entertaining formula emerges from the ashes of what we currently call F1. Whatever this may be, it would certainly not be F1. But they most likely may be just as entertaining as the current formula.
How do you see it?
