Ferrari President Slams 'Insane' Proposals

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has slammed proposed changes to bring excitement back to Formula One racing, and has suggested that the Italian squad could look for challenges outside Grand Prix racing if the ideas are implemented.

Max Mosley, the president of Formula One's ruling body, issued a nine-point plan aimed at improving the show and reducing costs in Grand Prix racing. The plan will be discussed with the teams at a meeting of the FIA's Formula One commission, which also groups sponsors and promoters, on October 28.

Among the proposals, Mosley presented a radical new idea by which a driver would swap teams during a season, although the FIA president admitted the proposal was not likely to succeed.

The Briton said he expected the teams to be more open to a proposed weight penalty aimed at having a more levelled field. Di Montezemolo said that those ideas were far from professional.

"I find the proposals slightly insane, the kind of stuff you'd hear in a bar by amateurish fans with little knowledge of the sport," di Montezemolo told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Furthermore, they raise a question for us: if these proposals go through, and I don't think they will, would it make sense for us to keep investing in a modified formula after having won so much?

"We could consider looking for new challenges outside Formula One, but I think that at the end, good sense will prevail."

Ferrari have dominated this season, winning 15 out of the 17 races and clinching both the drivers' and constructors' titles for the third consecutive year. Di Montezemolo said Ferrari have always been receptive to "intelligent proposals" to improve Formula One, but claimed that their patience was being tested with the proposed changes.

"I'm proud that Ferrari is so strong and that we have destroyed the competition from the biggest carmakers in the world," he added. "We have been in F1 for over 50 years. We have always accepted intelligent proposals and we will continue to do so, but not if they pervert the nature of Grand Prix racing and of the most advanced [technological] research.

"Our patience is eternal, and when you win it is even more so. But now it is being tested hard."

The Ferrari president, however, was confident that the proposals would not be accepted by the Formula One Commission.

"I'm sure these aren't proposals that can go through, as F1 would then cease to exist," he said. "I don't think it will happen. I'm convinced that there will be new ideas to improve the show and the interest, but not punitive measures towards who has worked more and better than the others by investing time, sacrifices, and money.

"This isn't and won't be possible."