Ferrari revives F1 quit threats amid budget cap talks!

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has revived the Italian outfit's old quit threats, warning the Scuderia could depart F1 if next season's budget cap is reduced further that its accepted $150M level.

Amid the global coronavirus pandemic, Formula 1 will implement a series of cost saving measures for 2021 to help mitigate the financial impact of the crisis on the sport.

Teams unanimously agreed to cut back the budget cap scheduled for introduction next year from $175M to $150.

However, given the severity of the economic downturn and its existential threat to several teams, a further cutback of the cost cap limit is under discussion, with McLaren lobbying for a markdown all the way to $100M!

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At last week's meeting between F1, the FIA and the teams, it appears that a $145M ceiling for 2021, reduced to $130M for 2022 was debated.

But Ferrari is standing firm, opposing any cut below the accepted $150M level, insisting F1 needs to properly "evaluate" the consequences of its potential decisions.

"The $145m level is already a new and demanding request compared to what was set out last June," Binotto told the Guardian.

"It cannot be attained without further significant sacrifices, especially in terms of our human resources.

"If it was to get even lower, we would not want to be put in a position of having to look at other further options for deploying our racing DNA.

"F1, we have all sorts of teams with different characteristics," Binotto added. "They operate in different countries, under different legislation and with their own ways of working.

"Therefore, it is not simple and straightforward to make structural changes simply by cutting costs in a linear fashion.

"We are well aware that F1 and indeed the whole world right now is going through a particularly difficult time because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"However, this is not the time to react in a hurry as there’s a risk of making decisions on the back of this emergency without clearly evaluating all the consequences."

Binotto also argued that a significant curtailment of the cost cap threshold would weaken the sport and decrease its value.

"F1 has to be the pinnacle of motor sport in terms of technology and performance," said the Swiss engineer.

"It must be attractive for the car manufacturers and the sponsors who want to be linked to this most prestigious category.

"If we restrict costs excessively then we run the risk of reducing the level considerably, bringing it ever closer to the lower formulae."

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner is partly in Ferrari's camp, opposing a cutback below $145M. But the Briton has nevertheless tabled the idea of the top teams supplying customer cars to the smaller outfits as a means of bringing down costs.

Binotto isn't against such a concept given the circumstances.

"If the current emergency really put the existence of some of our competitors in this sport in doubt and made it necessary to revise certain cornerstones, then Ferrari would be open to it," he said.

"It’s not even sacrilegious, given it’s happened before in F1 and happens today in series such as [motorcycling’s] MotoGP."

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