Ferrari: Cap will turn F1 into formula GP3

THE WAR raging between Ferrari and motorsport chiefs escalated yesterday after F1’s most famous team lost its legal bid to block plans for a budget cap.

Governing body the FIA slammed Ferrari for attempting to win an injunction against the voluntary £40m cap, after a Paris court rejected the case yesterday.

Ferrari, meanwhile, mocked the standard of teams lined up to replace it next season, if it and six other rebel outfits make good on threats to quit over the proposals.

And Renault’s two-time world champion Fernando Alonso backed up the Italian team’s view, admitting the sport “would not be F1 any more” if a mass boycott goes ahead.

Yesterday’s verdict leaves just days for the row to be resolved before next week’s deadline for teams to confirm entry for 2010.

The Tribunal de Grande Instance did not accept Ferrari’s argument that they were entitled to veto technical rule changes. FIA president Max Mosley welcomed the verdict and aimed a barb at Ferrari, saying: “No competitor should place their interests above those of the sport in which they compete.”

During the hearing four new potential entrants for 2010 emerged: former grand prix boss Nick Wirth, sports car team Epsilon Euskadi, leading race car engineering company Ray Mallock Limited and GP2 outfit Campos Racing. They join the likes of Lola and Prodrive as prospective newcomers to balance out the looming exodus.

But Ferrari lampooned the line-up, saying it wouldn’t “have the same value”. A statement added: “Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to call it formula GP3?”

Renault is also threatening to quit, and driver Alonso admitted this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix could be his last. “I don’t know if this will be my last time,” he said.

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