Ferrari prepared to quit F1 over mandate move

Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne says he would be prepared to pull the manufacturer out F1 if Bernie Ecclestone and FIA President Jean Todt are allowed to exercise their mandate to make sweeping changes to the regulations.

In a bold move by the World Motor Sport Council, Ecclestone and Todt have been granted a mandate with which they can potentially force through certain measures, an action that Ferrari is reportedly set to challenge as the only member of the WMSC to vote against it.

Significantly, the mandate could potentially allow Ecclestone and Todt to go ahead with their divisive plans to introduce a cheaper independently supplied engine, which manufacturers are co-operating over to avoid by coming up with their own proposal to cut costs.

Indeed, Ferrari remains the most powerful team in F1, though it is the team's unique veto against the original cost cuts proposed - specifically the lowering of engine prices - that would initiate Ecclestone and Todt's alternative plans.

However, with Ferrari fearing the mandate could neuter its power and enforce changes it disagrees with, Marchionne says he will go as far as quitting the sport if Ferrari's is 'undermined'.

"Ferrari would find other ways to express its ability to race and to win," Marchionne is quoted by Sky Sports F1. "It would be a huge shame [if Ferrari quit F1], but Ferrari cannot be put in a corner on its knees and say nothing.

"We go to the track to prove to ourselves and to everyone our ability to manage the power unit. If we begin to undermine this advantage, Ferrari has no intention of racing.

"I understand very well the difficulties that smaller teams face, but this is something that FOM [Formula One Management] has to solve. It is not something Ferrari has to solve."