Todt not worried by Ferrari F1 quit threat

FIA president Jean Todt insists he is not concerned by Ferrari’s threat to quit Formula 1 over the sport’s future direction.

In the wake of a blueprint of engine regulation proposals for 2021 revealed late last year, Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne warned that F1’s most iconic team could walkway from the sport unless new owners Liberty Media reconsider its plans for F1’s post-2020 landscape. 

F1’s most successful team is tied to F1 until the end of 2020 under the Concorde Agreement, but the Italian squad is unhappy with proposals over the future direction of the sport, insisting it “will not play” unless its own conditions are met. 

Ferrari has issued numerous quit threats in the past and Todt, who played a vital role as the Scuderia dominated F1 during the early 2000s with Michael Schumacher, does not believe Ferrari will carry out its latest warning.  

"I'm not worried about Ferrari leaving," Todt told PA Sport. "Everybody has their own choice. I'm just worried about making good decisions, and making good choices for the future of Formula 1.

"If we do a good job we will have a lot of competitors participating. We need to make it more affordable, make sure we don't lose any attractive teams, and that's what we need to do.

"I love Ferrari but I love motor racing. I had 16 years of a fascinating partnership with Ferrari and Ferrari gave me a lot, but I gave them a lot, too. 

“Now it is a different chapter in my life and I don't see Ferrari as I used to see them. I see them as a beautiful car producer, and as a great contender in motor racing.”

Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone recently waded in on the debate, warning Ferrari’s quit threat is real while adding the team is ready to form a breakaway series to rival F1.

Ecclestone also backtracked on previous comments he made about electric racing by claiming the sport he governed for over 40 years should follow in Formula E's footsteps by becoming an all-electric championship. However, Todt disagrees. 

"Not at all," he replied when asked if F1 should go electric. "Formula 1 is a hybrid technology, a great technology, and probably the most sophisticated technology. It's another level of laboratory.

"You see a Formula 1 car, and for me it's something we are working on, because it is too sophisticated and it is too expensive, but it's a great show.

"It is the biggest motor racing show on earth and that is what it is at the moment so you should not compare it with any other series."