And Ferrari's Luca di Montezemolo was the first one to show his negative views on this switch last month, while insisting however that his team will not stand in the way of the FIA rule-making. What he will do, in turn, is try to lobby continuously against the idea so that Ferrari can find some strong allies in delaying or even denying the useless (for Ferrari) 4-cylinder units from the sport.
“Four cylinders is not Formula One,” he said in a recent interview with Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, while admitting the move will not make any sense for Ferrari as a company also, not only as an F1 competitor. “We will not be building any for our street cars. (And) for the top class of racing it sounds a bit pathetic.”
“Why couldn't we have a V6 turbo? We should not confuse affordable with cheap,” he added.
Additionally, Di Montezemolo admitted he is seeking support from fellow members of the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) to postpone the new engine rules as far as he can. And recently, Mercedes-Benz' motorsport director Norbert Haug hinted that the German carmaker too fancies a prolongation of the V8 era in the Great Circus.
“If there is the slightest possibility to delay the four cylinder (introduction), I will look for it. We see a chance. We need unity,” added Di Montezemolo.
In addition to the effect this move will have on Ferrari's production car business, the move is feared to bring F1 expenditures to higher levels as before, because all the engine makers will have to start from scratch with the new poweplant. However, addressing those concerns recently was Cosworth's Mark Gallagher, who reportedly evaluated the development of the new 4-cylinder units to only EUR30 million.
Google News