Ferrari may quit
> Threat to leave F1 is very real if they believe new regulations won’t allow them to win, says Ecclestone Park is first rookie world No. 1
BERNIE ECCLESTONE says that new engine regulations, which are due to be introduced to Formula One in 2021, could drive Ferrari out of the sport.
Ferrari is the only team which has been in F1 since the championship was created in 1950 and its 15 drivers’ titles make it the sport’s most successful team.
However it hasn’t won the championship since 2008 and its driver Sebastian Vettel was beaten to this year’s title last weekend by Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes.
The recent downturn in its performance has been fuelled by F1’s switch from a 2.4litre V8 to a more environmentally-friendly 1.6-litre V6 turbo in 2014.
Ferrari has struggled with the V6 and last Tuesday F1 revealed that it will use a cheaper and simpler version of the same engine when the teams’ contracts expire at the end of 2020. Ecclestone (caricature) says it could seal Ferrari’s exit.
“If they can’t win, they will put forward new regulations,” he says. “If the regulations come out where Ferrari think it is going to be a struggle and they can’t support the money then they will leave.”
It follows comments from Ferrari’s chairman Sergio Marchionne who said last Thursday that Ferrari and F1’s American owners Liberty Media “appear to be at odds in terms of the strategic development” of the sport.
He added that F1 “has been part of our DNA since the day we were born but if we change the sandbox to the point where it becomes an unrecognisable sandbox, I don’t want to play anymore.” Ferrari made repeated threats to quit when its F1 contract previously came up for renewal but it signed up after Ecclestone boosted its prize money. It gets around £160m in prize money annually and £80m of it is guaranteed before a single race even begins. Although it finished behind Mercedes, its prize money haul outstripped that of the German team by a staggering £42.8m. However, Liberty has turned its back on this strategy since it bought F1 in January and replaced Ecclestone in the driving seat with American media executive Chase Carey. It is understood that he will announce to the teams that Liberty plans to introduce a budget cap and balance the prize money to level the playing field. It would put the brakes on Ferrari’s bonus. “They don’t want budget caps and all that,” says Ecclestone. “They want to spend what they can afford to spend and I’ve always said the same thing. If people can’t spend they have to go. “If there are then only three or four teams something would have to be done but until that actually happens nobody is going to do anything. All the teams that say they can’t afford it shouldn’t put an entry in.” The new regulations could put Ferrari under particular financial pressure as it is one of only four engine manufacturers in F1 and although the V6 is remaining it will still need to be redesigned. “It looks like no big change and is superficially similar – but there’s massive change in there,” said Mercedes’ boss Toto Wolff. “We shouldn’t be running away with creativity in coming up with new concepts, because it will trigger parallel development costs over the next three years.” It could be the driving force behind Ferrari’s departure and when Marchionne was asked how he would feel about being the boss who led it away from F1 he replied “Like a million bucks because I’ll be working on an alternative strategy to try and replace it. More rational one, too.” – The Independent SOUTH KOREAN sensation Park Sung-Hyun (pix) became the first LPGA Tour rookie to be crowned world No. 1 yesterday after a season in which she also won her first major.
The 24-year-old, who knocked countrywoman Ryu So-Yeon off the top spot, is the fourth South Korean world No. 1 since the rankings were introduced in 2006, joining Shin JiYai, Park In-Bee and Ryu.
“I was very surprised and amazed by what I’ve achieved,” Park told LPGA.com in Hainan Island, where she will play in this week’s Blue Bay LPGA tournament.
“This is all too sudden for me, and it hasn’t hit me yet,” Park added. “I think this is an honour for my whole family.”
Park reaches No. 1 exactly a year after she held a press conference in Korea to announce she would take up membership on the LPGA Tour, after a season in which she won seven times on the Korean LPGA Tour, contended in three major championships and had risen to world No. 10.
Her incredible form carried through to the LPGA Tour this year with two wins to date including a first major at the US Women’s Open, nine top-10 finishes and top-20 finishes at three other majors.
Not only that, the superconsistent Park has never missed a cut in her 29 career LPGA Tour starts. – AFP