The Italian company's president Luca di Montezemolo told the media earlier this week that Ferrari will not give up the idea of fielding a 3rd car in F1. However, the car would not be entered as belonging to the Scuderia, but to another team.
“(It's) better to have a third (Ferrari) car with a competitive team than a team that cannot even do GP2. I think it's common sense and Bernie Ecclestone agrees. Who (would run the third Ferrari)? A small but competitive team,” he told the reporters on Tuesday.
Apparently, this was not just another episode of his constant lobbying for the idea, as Di Montezemolo sent his team principal Stefano Domenicali to London for a meeting of the F1 teams association FOTA (Formula One Teams Association), as reported by Italian magazine Autosprint. If all goes well, we might just see a third Ferrari (or McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, etc for that matter) in the series from as early as 2013.
“It would be nice to see a third Ferrari fielded perhaps by a private American team. I'm thinking of a team like Ganassi or Penske (being suitable),” added the Ferrari boss, hinting that a potential link-up with an American team would be welcomed for both Ferrari and F1 at the same time.
“On the question of a third car, we are determined. If a team does not have the money to be in formula one, they can go to GP2. It is disheartening to see someone like Trulli many seconds behind. Think what Jarno could do with a Ferrari given to his team.”
“Ecclestone agrees and (Frank) Williams, who was against it before, understands now. Don't you think it would be nice to see a team like Penske or Ganassi deploy a Ferrari with an American driver?” he asked rhetorically.
Google News