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  1. #1
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    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?
    Last edited by Nitrodaze; 20th January 2018 at 20:12.
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  2. #2
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    Just to point this out, you're starting with an extremely unlikely premise: that Ferrari would ever leave F1. That would do a lot more damage to Ferrari itself than it would do to F1.

    Keep in mind that the main reason for the fallout between Ferrari and Liberty, or one of the reason, is distribution of the prize money - I'm fairly certain Liberty wants to do without Ferrari's exclusive payment and the Italians won't be too keen on that, but I'm pretty sure Liberty will find a consolation prize for them. So if Ferrari were to leave F1 on a rant, why do we believe that the other manufacturers would want to follow suit? I believe that if the other manufacturers are complaining and making a bit of a fuss is to put pressure on Liberty and make sure that they don't go against their interests too much, but I don't see anyone following Ferrari out of F1.

    The only reason why anyone would follow Ferrari into the rival series is if they believed that the other series could provide better exposure for their brands. But keep in mind that F1 is a global brand which would have all the big names, lots of television contracts around the world and possibly exclusive agreements with F1 historic circuits such as Monaco. But why, as a team director, would you make that choice if you can have a fight with Mercedes, McLaren, Renault, Williams and Red Bull? "Oh, it would be nice to beat Ferrari" is a nice line, but I don't think any sane team director would be willing to step into completely uncharted territory just based on that premise. Particularly if the rival series ends up being a sham with only Ferrari as a strong team and then a couple of lame ducks to fill the grid.

  3. #3
    Senior Member Rollo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nitrodaze View Post
    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?
    Ferrari loses a USD $100 million income source.

    It then loses it's TV audience.

    Ferrari becomes the new Lamborghini.

    Nobody cares about Ferrari in the way they used to.

    QED.
    The Old Republic was a stupidly run organisation which deserved to be taken over. All Hail Palpatine!

  4. Likes: N. Jones (1st February 2018)
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rollo View Post
    Ferrari loses a USD $100 million income source.

    It then loses it's TV audience.

    Ferrari becomes the new Lamborghini.

    Nobody cares about Ferrari in the way they used to.

    QED.
    I doubt $100m is a bother for Ferrari if they are not racing. Does Ferrari need F1 to sell cars? not really. They have established the brand internationally as THE brand to have to demonstrate that you are loaded and a millionaire. Does F1 need Ferrari? Well, yes. While Mercedes is a gigantic brand of motoring, they lack the niche appeal that Ferrari has. The scarlet Red cars of Ferrari has evoked such endearing emotion going back decades. Nothing on the grid has such an appeal, not even the the highly efficient Silver Mercedes.

    When it comes to TV audience, l am sure the marketing department at Ferrari would come up with an answer to that.

    The sort of people who buy expensive playboy machinery such as Ferrari's would always care about what Ferrari has to offer in the future.

    Hence, l don't buy the notion that Ferrari is going into oblivion if it leaves F1. They will carry on making great road sport cars and people with deep pockets will always buy them. That said, F1 would carry on without Ferrari but only if they do not lose any other manufacturer team. Especially Mercedes.
    Last edited by Nitrodaze; 26th January 2018 at 20:53.
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  6. #5
    Senior Member Rollo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nitrodaze View Post
    The scarlet Red cars of Ferrari has evoked such endearing emotion going back decades. Nothing on the grid has such an appeal, not even the the highly efficient Silver Mercedes.
    Why is it so?

    Quote Originally Posted by Nitrodaze View Post
    They have established the brand internationally as THE brand to have to demonstrate that you are loaded and a millionaire.
    How is this different to Lamborghini?
    The Old Republic was a stupidly run organisation which deserved to be taken over. All Hail Palpatine!

  7. #6
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    Ferrari needs F1 a lot more than F1 needs Ferrari. I’d happily have them leave. They get too much preferential treatment and for over 40 years they have been threatening to leave the sport and throwing toys out of the pram when they don’t get their own way. Just as no player is bigger than a club in soccer, no team is bigger than the sport in F1. There would probably be a short term impact but F1 would recover. I think F1 finally have owners in Liberty that see this so I happily doubt Ferrari’s quit threats will have much impact anymore.

  8. Likes: zako85 (28th January 2018)
  9. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nitrodaze View Post
    I doubt $100m is a bother for Ferrari if they are not racing.
    It's still a lot of money, even for a firm like Ferrari.

    ....

    That said, F1 would carry on without Ferrari but only if they do not lose any other manufacturer team. Especially Mercedes.
    There are MANY of manufacturers who would love to jump into F1 racing, but they're scared by the sticker price of F1 racing. Without both Mercedes and Ferrari, there could be a whole lot of car brands interested in entering F1 racing.

  10. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by zako85 View Post
    There are MANY of manufacturers who would love to jump into F1 racing, but they're scared by the sticker price of F1 racing. Without both Mercedes and Ferrari, there could be a whole lot of car brands interested in entering F1 racing.
    Zakos, you make a very strong point here. Porsche, Volkswagen and Aston Martin have taken a sniff at F1. Toyota, BMW and maybe Ford or Peugeot may return if costs were reduced. This hypothesis may sound interesting but there is no guarantee that they would actually return to the formula without Ferrari and/or Mercedes in it.

    When we talk about this issue of Ferrari and Mercedes not being happy with some of Liberty's proposition. You also have to remember that the promoters have not properly addressed the fair distribution of money between the teams in the past. While there are signs that this is being address as Sauber recently dropped their EU suit, funds distribution over the last season was the lowest for a very long time; it was said in an interview with Horner during last season.

    Low enough for teams like Williams to feel the pinch, enough to need two moneybag drivers. So it is not all roses behind the scenes in F1 and most of these issues are going to playout during the 2018 season, as proper negotiations for the concord agreement from 2021 goes into its next phase. As Zak Brown puts it, sparks are going to fly during this new season.

    I am sure it would be resolved, as there are enough goodwill and desire for F1 to continue well into the future. But Liberty are going to discover what a genius Bernie Ecclestone was at steering this rowdy ship of racers alone over the years. The worst case scenario may not be about Ferrari leaving but about half the grid leaving.
    Last edited by Nitrodaze; 28th January 2018 at 15:08.
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  11. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nitrodaze View Post
    I doubt $100m is a bother for Ferrari if they are not racing. Does Ferrari need F1 to sell cars? not really. .
    https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&r...B1swrRyw1miaDC

    More generally, Formula 1 Racing allows us to promote and market our brand and technology to a global audience without resorting to traditional advertising activities, therefore preserving the aura of exclusivity around our brand and limiting the marketing costs that we, as a company operating in the luxury ...

    now ask yourself what would advertising cost worldwide be.
    VERSTAPPEN: ‘If I’d let Sainz past, dad would’ve kicked me in the nuts!’

  12. #10
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    Let them go. It's supposed to be a competition. When a team gets by default free money how can it be a fair competition? What a freakin' joke F1 is...

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