Ferrari chiefs left to ponder F1 options

FERRARI are weighing up whether to take their fight with the FIA to the civil law courts after failing to acquire an injunction against next year’s regulations.

World motor sport’s most iconic marque have since been chastised by FIA president Max Mosley for their selfish attempt to disrupt F1.

However, Ferrari may have lost this battle, but not the war in the wake of yesterday’s ruling by the Tribunal de Grande Justice in Paris.

The Tribunal recognised Ferrari have a right of veto with regard to new rules drawn up by the FIA, a special arrangement that came into force between the team and governing body in 2005.

The Tribunal maintain such a veto should have been exercised at the World Council meetings of March 17 and April 29 when Mosley and the FIA unilaterally decided to impose a budget cap from next season.

However, as the dispute is a contractual matter, the Tribunal have made it clear a decision is beyond their remit, and instead is one for the civil courts.

In the wake of Mosley’s admonishment, Ferrari must now opt whether to pursue such an avenue and cause further disruption.

“No competitor should place their interests above those of the sport in which they compete,” chided Mosley.

The latest meeting of the Formula One Teams’ Association (FOTA) is due to take place in the paddock in Monaco tomorrow when they will likely determine what approach should be taken.

Ferrari, though, have reiterated their previous stance that if no agreement can be reached between the teams and the FIA, then they will end their 60-year participation in F1.

Five minutes prior to the Tribunal announcing their verdict, Ferrari spat their dummy out in a bizarrely-worded tirade on their official website.

Belittling the potential new entrants for next season, it read: “Looking at the list, you cannot find a famous name. Wirth Research, Lola, USF1, Epsilon Euskadi, RML, Formtech,Campos, iSport: these are the names of the teams due to compete in the two-tier Formula One wanted by Mosley.

“Can a world championship with teams like them – with due respect – have the same value as today’s Formula One, where Ferrari, the big car manufacturers and teams, who created the history of this sport, compete?

“Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to call it Formula GP3?”

The natural feeling within the F1 fraternity, a point emphasised by Ecclestone, is the sport and team are inextricably linked, and without Ferrari the series is demeaned.

One of their star drivers in 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen is convinced Ferrari will still be racing in F1 next year.

However, should the worst-case scenario unfold, he has pledged his future to the team and vowed to honour his contract by competing in another series should they so desire.

“I am pretty sure we are not going to disappear from F1,” he said.

“But I will still have a contract with them and they race in many different categories, so I think they will find something for me. Whatever they do, I will do the same with them.”

Fernando Alonso fears this could be his last season in Formula One as the political row deepens.

If Ferrari do carry out their threat to withdraw from F1, the likes of Renault, Toyota and BMW Sauber would likely follow suit.

“If the big teams and the big manufacturers leave F1 then I don’t want to race with the small teams,” said Alonso, “because it is not F1 any more, and there are many other categories,” said Alonso.