Sport Doesn't Need F1 Name - Ferrari

Just when we thought this year is going to end up with no major stories to debate on around the Christmas table, Ferrari's Luca di Montezemolo decided to plant one before the year end. A potential breakaway series in the near future, an idea which he flirted with back in 2009 when Max Mosley was still president of the International Automobile Federation.

While in 2009, the main reasons for backing such a move were the FIA's push for cost cuts in Formula One and the small percentage from the sport's revenues that went into the teams' pockets, now it's all about the money. To be more precise, the Ferrari head insisted that the sport can't go on like this, with the main actors (the teams) receiving so little from F1's lucrative business.

While fancying a system similar to the ones in North American professional sports – the NBA, more exact, where the teams are also the owners of the sport – Di Montezemolo now told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport that the sport could go on without the name “Formula One.” Additionally, he insisted that when a new Concorde Agreement will be signed in 2012, it's unlikely that the financial clauses of the new deal will remain the same as now.

“We need to think about what to do,” he said, according to the aforementioned publication. “It can not go on as it is now. Do we need the name formula one? I believe we could go on with a different one. We could continue with (owners) CVC, but only with better financial conditions.”

“Or the teams start their own company and we give Bernie the presidency and we think of new and modern methods for marketing. We would do it along the lines of the NBA,” he added, while emphasizing that Ecclestone's role at the helm of Formula One is very important because of his passion for racing, rather than the stock market.