04/02/2019
NEWS STORY
At a time the likes of McLaren, Williams, Haas and Racing Point are seeking (pleading?) a cost cap that will see spending reduced and the playing field levelled, Ferrari intends upping the stakes by increasing its budget.
"While our Formula 1 performance last year was the best since we won the constructors' championship in 2008, we fell short of our ambition to raise the winners' cup," said Ferrari chairman and EO, Louis Camilleri, in a conference call with investors.
"Our objective going forward remains the same as it has always been, to win," he added. "In 2019 we project an increase in spending which partially reflects this ambition, but also includes the development expenditures required to address the new tactical regulations that will form part of the envisaged Concorde agreement that should come into force in 2021."
Fact is, at this point in time nobody knows what the plans for 2021 are, with the sport appearing to have done a U-Turn in terms of an overhaul of the engine regulations, and, despite the intention to reduce budgets and redistribute the prize pot more evenly, the sport's powers-that-be eyeing a controversial futuristic look for the cars.
If nothing else, Camilleri is taking a more conciliatory approach than Sergio Marchionne, who, in reaction to the initial proposals, threatened to take Ferrari out of F1... a threat that has been made more than a few times over the years.
While it is understandable that Ferrari wants to increase its budget as it seeks to take on Mercedes and bring the German manufacturer's rein to an end, it is the admission that it is the overhaul of the sport in 2021 that is the team's primary focus, that is of significance.
However, as witnessed last year, when Ferrari dug deep, so too did Mercedes, to the point that even the likes of Renault could only look on as the spending war ensued.
On the other hand, though Ferrari has never been afraid of spending money, there has always been doubt as to whether it spent wisely.
In recent weeks the Italian team has dumped team principal Maurizio Arrivabene, but then inexplicably replaced him with Mattia Binotto, the technical boss who has really turned things around at Maranello and who should by rights have been left where he was.
Like a number of major issues facing the sport at present, the renewal of the Concorde Agreement has gone quiet of late, and as the teams and FOM prepare for the next round of talks Ferrari, ever the rebel, now has added support in its negotiations courtesy of Alfa Romeo, which is effectively its B-Team.
Nonetheless, in the current climate any increase in spending by the likes of Ferrari is going to cause further division and unrest further down the grid.