Ferrari and Ecclestone at odds on how Formula 1 should be run

Filed under: Motorsports, Ferrari

Anyone who's watched the trials and tribulations of Formula 1 over the last few years knows that Bernie Ecclestone usually keeps to himself. But if you provoke him, he'll always say exactly what he thinks -- and it's usually more than you'd hoped for. That appears to have happened yet again after Ferrari head Luca de Montezemolo told a group of journalists that he thought it might be time for Bernie to step down, give the F1 teams more money and stop holding races in far-flung places "just because they have a nice skyline."

More specifically, Montezemolo said "In terms of revenue, we want to know more about them. Theoretically, like in other professional sports, like basketball in the USA, we can have a league made by us and appoint a good league manager to run our own business. Because it is our own business." Ecclestone's reply essentially amounted to: "Shut up." He said that Ferrari's loyalty was bought during the breakaway threat of a couple years ago, when the teams threatened to leave F1 over a dispute with the new Concorde Agreement. Ferrari was the first one to break rank, and Ecclestone says that was done because Ferrari was promised about "$80 million more when they win the constructor's championship."

As for revenues, Ecclestone said that Ferrari, like any other team, can check the books whenever it wants. And as for far-flung races, with CVC Capital Partners still in huge debt from buying into the series, the number-one goal now is to go where the money is. That probably means more races in Asia than Europe, and more nice skylines for the time being. As far as we're concerned, if it brings more passing, we're on board.

[Source: Autosport]

Ferrari and Ecclestone at odds on how Formula 1 should be run originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 22 Dec 2008 07:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ferrari F1 offer fans signed caps

No matter what circuit the Formula One circus visits they are nearly always greeted by a sea of red. The “Tifosi” are the real die hard fans who follow the prancing horse no matter who drives for them or whatever the results, although winning is preferable to coming in second or third!

To reward the fans and also to celebrate their fantastic 1st and 2nd places in the Turkish Grand Prix last weekend, the team have released through the Ferrari Store, a limited amount of signed Ferrari F1 baseball caps, which have been signed by both drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.

For those who have the urge to buy this special limited edition, the cap will be delivered in a bright red Ferrari box and comes with a certificate of authenticity, just so you can prove to your friends that the item is real, and not just a $10 cap that you have signed yourself, (Now that’s an idea!) and all this for around $600.

The signed baseball cap and box etc will be limited to only 50, so for real Ferrari F1 fans time may be as limited as the caps themselves, whether this could count as an investment or not is very debatable, even a limited edition of 50 may not be worth much more than the price paid, however the “Tifosi” would no doubt disagree.

To view the official page and the only pace to buy the caps visit the Ferrari Store.

Source [Auto Blog]

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ASI F430 Project Update: ASI Exhaust

This is a project I continue to watch closely as it takes shape. Now ASI has completed their Scuderia type exhaust for the Ferrari F430. Here you can see it with ASI’s incredible rear bumper.

Note the high mount dry carbon GT Wing from ASI as well. This is the most sinister F430 rear end I’ve seen yet. To me nothing beats a top level Japanese tuned Ferrari. Between this and the Garage Saurus Ferrari F550 Maranello (another personal favorite of mine), I think the Japanese do aftermarket tuning the best for Ferrari.

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But we don’t think it is because why would they drive in a F430 with a ...

What do you see on the spy shot above? I think its a Ferrari F430 with removable hardtop. The hardtop on a F430 is quite funny, it doesn’t match with the car. A F430 is a car you drive on sunny days, just like any other Ferrari. And when it’s bad weather you can always count on your softtop. So a hardtop isn’t really necessary.

It could be a mule for the successor of the F430, but the shape and lines are all the same. This could mean that the successor could have the same size. The F430 has already been on the market for a while and with the introduction of the Gallardo LP560-4 Ferrari has less power than the Lambo. So this could be a mule. But we don’t think it is because why would they drive in a F430 with a hardtop? That will attract a lot of attention.

Another option is that Ferrari has built a hardtop because a lot of customers ask for it. But we don’t think that people want a hardtop on their Spider. But hey.. we can make mistakes! If there is a need for a hardtop, why wouldn’t Ferrari build one?

The last option is a whacky Italian who placed a custom build hardtop on his F. But that isn’t really possible because there is a factory license plate on the car.

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