Should Ferrari enter Formula E?

Ferrari in Formula E. It sounds a little wrong. But the electric single-seater series is in vogue. It's what all major car manufacturers have to be seen in.

Such is FE's growth that over the next couple of years its catwalks will be fit to burst with the big names: Renault; Jaguar; BMW; Audi; DS. Mercedes is on standby, too.

Nissan's on the lookout. As is Volvo. And Honda.

But... Ferrari?

No disrespect to GT racing, but Formula 1's been Ferrari's only real works playground for 40-odd years, when its topline sportscar programme moved into the background. Anything other than grand prix racing just doesn't seem very Prancing Horse.

And yet the Italian marque became the latest major manufacturer to enter the FE frame last week after company CEO Sergio Marchionne outlined the requirements for a possible entry.

He described a move into FE as "possible" if the series drops car swaps (fair) and offers greater technical freedom (hmm, less convinced by this, but more on that later).

Does 'possible' mean 'likely' in this case? That was the big question in Marrakech last week, when the second round of the 2016/17 season took place just two days after Marchionne made his comments in an investors call to announce the company's Q3 numbers.

The answer depends on how far ahead you're looking. If FE sticks around, and ups its game, I'm not sure Ferrari can remain outside the bubble.

Short-term though, there's little chance and little point. All participants tout FE as a window to showcase and develop electric-vehicle technology, which Ferrari doesn't have at the moment.

Ferrari is not resistant to a new range of road-car machinery. Marchionne claimed a hybrid element would be "mandatory" some time from 2019.

That is better late than never, but the company is behind the curve and it means an FE programme would have no road relevance for several years - especially if Ferrari is waiting for something with an all-electric heart.

One theory is it could be Fiat's opportunity to give Alfa Romeo a motorsport programme, something that it has supposedly been keen on for some time. The new Giulia is going to arrive in 2018, with a plug-in hybrid option. So it would pitch Alfa against direct rivals BMW, Audi and Mercedes.

But that's very much a circumstantial theory. And the lack of clarity or detail is probably why series CEO Alejandro Agag isn't getting too carried away by the talk.

"The people at the top of a company like Ferrari are very clever," he says. "I don't think they are looking at motorsport, I think they are looking at the future of the motor industry in general.

"Marchionne is talking about the hybrid technology and that part of the powertrain. It's no more than a kind of strategic vision of where the future of the motor industry is going.

"I don't see anything imminent following those comments from Marchionne but it's always nice to hear that electric is one of the elements in the consideration of the future of a brand like Ferrari."

Bearing in mind Marchionne's investors call also included the warning that he had "thrown all the money I'd like to throw" at F1, some might have been excited (or dismayed, depending on what you think of FE) by the prospect of Ferrari having an electric side project, or even jacking in grand prix racing altogether.

I can see a few obvious hurdles, short-term and long-term. As mentioned above, there's no immediate electric-vehicle strategy for the brand, so there's nothing to promote.

Plus, Ferrari's invested a lot into turbo-hybrid engine development in F1, and the reason for that engine formula was to keep manufacturers interested - so it's still getting a lot of R&D relevance from F1.

And ultimately FE's not F1, the pinnacle, so there's a perception issue there.

Tackling the first point, Ferrari's stance on electric vehicles will change. It cannot afford for it not to. The world is evolving and political pressures will gradually grow - one day, Ferrari simply won't be able to trade in major cities or entire countries unless it's a zero-emissions vehicle. Fiat launched an electric version of its 500 just so it could sell cars on the west coast of the United States, for example.

That's even more important than the changing public expectation of manufacturers to offer a 'sustainable' alternative, because it means without one there will simply be no future for the business.

People like Agag know this. That's why he describes FE as "a logical consequence of a move that will happen in the next years" for Ferrari.

He's not saying it's definite, he just means that as Ferrari embraces electrification, FE will naturally become a more realistic option.

When Ferrari electrifies on the road car side, an electric racing programme makes perfect sense - even for a make like Ferrari that is built on sexy cars, fast cars, loud cars. You know, cars that have a proper impressive sensory impact.

That's why F1's such a brilliant marketing tool, even though some like to take a pop at the noise of the V6 turbo hybrid era.

But other manufacturers have clocked that other factors are more important these days.

It's why Mercedes has secured an option to enter FE in 2018/19, why Honda revealed FE was on its radar earlier this year, why - prior to taking over Lotus in F1 - Renault entered FE with the e.dams operation.

It's why Jaguar, which on Tuesday revealed its first electric SUV, the I-PACE, is racing with its I-type 1s. It's why BMW and Audi have both ramped up their involvement.

And ultimately it is why Marchionne has said Ferrari has "agonised" over entering the series. FE would be the perfect place to make people aware that Ferrari is electrifying its range, and it would also be a way for a brand with such significant reach and impact to help improve the perception of EVs as a whole. That's actually pretty important for a company for which sexy cars sell.

You could argue that simply building a 1000kW electric supercar (that's over 1300bhp by the way) with incredible range and a futuristic design could do the job. But a racing programme has always been at the heart of Ferrari's marketing platform.

Even if Ferrari itself isn't going to move into electric SUVs or family cars in the future, tying the future electric Fiat 500s or Alfa Romeo Giulias to the Ferraris that are defeating Mercedes, BMW and Renault in FE is a nice selling point.

"Brands like Ferrari can definitely change the perception of EVs," says Agag. "But already there are Ferraris with a hybrid element in the powertrain. Performance is very important but the most interesting part is Marchionne speaks about having something uniquely Ferrari in the package.

"That's what makes sense, to have their own IP. That's where the challenge is because electric powertrains are not the same, there's an opportunity to do something unique in each powertrain."

We're moving from 'should' Ferrari enter the series back to 'could' it enter the series again, but it's all linked. Agag picks up on an interesting point (and the one mentioned earlier that concerns me): Marchionne seems to want more from FE to allow the company to create something "uniquely Ferrari".

How much more is difficult to determine. While FE utilises a single-make Spark chassis to keep costs down, the teams build their own motor, inverter and gearbox. The series also intends to open up battery development, which would offer another opportunity to move away from any perceived standardisation.

The uncertain timeframe for that could be one reason Marchionne stressed that "if it were to happen it would happen a few years from now". But it does reiterate that FE's part of the long-term picture.

Whether Ferrari necessarily needs an FE programme to do its electric powertrain R&D is also debatable. Fiat-owned Magneti Marelli already operates as a supplier of motors to three teams in the championship. Is that something that can be seen as enough to feed back to the folk at Maranello?

Or should it simply be part of a process in which FE would offer a cost-effective live testbed? The bigger R&D costs in FE are just north of the €10million mark at present - that pales in comparison to the near-£300million that Ferrari piles into F1 on the race team and engine side.

Given the marketing benefits it could get from an FE programme, that's also a snip compared to what it would be ploughing into the testing of its road cars anyway.

Fundamentally, it's difficult to see cost being a reason for Ferrari to stay away, whether FE was a solo programme or an add-on to F1.

And if you think it unlikely that F1's top brass would rankle at the prospect of Ferrari going elsewhere while still in grand prix racing - let alone another single-seater series - consider that F1 and FE are both owned by respective Liberty factions (Media on the F1 side, Global in FE). So maybe that's not quite the same hurdle it would have been a year or two ago.

So, let's assume Ferrari says yes to FE - there are genuine reasons to think it could. If it happens, one key question to ask is 'Is FE ready for so many premium brands?'

It's not F1, and it needs to improve. The base infrastructure is there, it just needs more investment in the right places. That's not to say it's not spending money, but more resources offer more potential growth.

And there are small things to get right, too. Not having enough garages in the Marrakech pitlane to avoid Renault e.dams, the champion team, being thrown in a pop-up set-up at the end was frankly ridiculous.

The main issue in Marrakech in terms of the FE spectacle was the presentation, and what I believe the PR folk call 'activation'.

There was little advertising around town - a street demo two days before doesn't cut it - and the crowd was low, the official claim being an attendance of just over 7000. That's not going to fly when more and more big-hitters come in. Nor are broken, glass-covered pavements lining the walk into the circuit.

I'm not being snobby, but I am going off on a slight tangent. FE's on the radar of the world's biggest manufacturers, like Ferrari, and that means every event needs to be worthy of its place and world class. Marrakech satisfied the first criterion but there's definitely work to be done on the second.

The Hong Kong opener highlighted the difference an invested local promoter can make - but even that had drawbacks, like what appeared to be a 'free run' on the circuit on the Friday for supercars. Gas-guzzling V10s are not welcome at a event where manufacturers are trying to promote the fact they believe in sustainable mobility.

Ultimately one of the factors Ferrari will consider will be whether FE is high-brow enough for its participation. Now that can be considered snobby, but Ferrari is a premium brand.

If it's still getting plenty out of F1, then an FE entry has to have additional value, not just be a good alternative.

The bottom line is it's unlikely Ferrari will enter FE in the next couple of years. Longer-term, though, it is far from illogical.

There are obvious and legitimate reasons for Ferrari to follow the latest trend and change its style.

But if Ferrari joins the line-up, FE needs to make sure its own product is more haute couture than High Street.