Ferrari
Which leaves us with Ferrari. Of all the manufacturers and constructors involved in Formula 1, it's hard to see them ever leaving whatever the circumstances. Without F1, Ferrari is just another luxury sports car manufacturer. There are plenty of others in that category, but there is only one Ferrari: and the reason for that is the way in which the Scuderia's entire history is infused with the very DNA of Grand Prix racing.
It's true that Ferrari's management has threatened to quit on several occasions in the recent past. The late, lamented former president Sergio Marchionne wasn't shy about stamping his feet and threatening to use them to walk out if the big rules and regulations changes didn't go Ferrari's way. But the truth is that no one really took those threats seriously, precisely because neither Ferrari nor F1 could survive in their current forms if they were ever to break up. Quitting F1 has to be almost the final contingency plan in any Ferrari CEO's toolbox short of closing down altogether.
Ferrari's success in F1 is a matter of national pride, crucial to the Italian spirit and identity
Despite being at the European epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak and among the first to suffer the lockdown consequences, Ferrari are in about as good a shape financially speaking as anyone in the automotive industry right now. That's not to say they're immune to the effects of coronavirus, only that their premium class business model is more recession proof than most, meaning that they should be among the last carmakers standing when all others have expired. And unlike Renault, Ferrari's success in F1 really a matter of national pride, and is thus so crucial to the Italian spirit and identity that even using public funds to keep the business going would be accepted as a self-evident government priority.
If Ferrari were to become the last manufacturer standing in F1 then the sport they inherit could look like a hollow shell of its former self - a single-spec championship devoid of the other great manufacftuers and constructors that have made it what it is.
But equally it could lead to the return of F1 to those halcyon days before the big international conglomerates muscled in, when we thrilled to the era of small independent teams consisting of daredevil drivers and genius engineers making history despite having to work out of a small garage round the back at Silverstone, or Woking, or Grove.
It just shows that even in the face of the biggest threats, there are always opportunities and possibilities for the future - whatever form that future ends up taking.
