Carey reassures Ferrari after quit threat

Chairman Chase Carey has said that Formula One Management share the same views as Ferrari on the 2021 proposal and are not planning to become NASCAR.

Ferrari have threatened to quit after assessing the blueprint that has been released for the future vision of the sport, but the key element of the standardisation of parts has left the Scuderia not remotely interested in being part of a NASCAR alternative.

But Carey has reassured Ferrari by saying that is not the plan and it still wants to give teams the freedom to create their own cars.

“Actually I don’t think we have a differing view to Ferrari,” Carey said. “I‘m not trying to be derogatory towards NASCAR, but we don’t plan to be NASCAR either.

“We don’t want to standardise the cars. We don’t want 20 identical cars going round the track, and the only difference is the driver,” he added.

“We want all the teams to have the ability to do what they do to create cars that are unique to them — unique engines to them, unique bodies to them.”

Carey emphasised again that the ultimate aim is to level the playing field, but to do so in a way that keeps all the teams unique.

He added: “We want the cars to be unique. We want each team to have the ability to have a car that is unique to it,” he emphasised.

”We want teams to compete to win, but we want all the teams to have a chance. It’s never going to be equal, there are going to be favourites that evolve, but over time we want the teams to feel they all have a fighting chance.

“Sports are built on the unexpected, so we do want a sport that can have the unexpected … you need competition, you need the unknown, you need great finishes, you need great stories and great dramas. We’ve got to create that.”