Luca di Montezemolo has written to Bernie Ecclestone and Donald McKenzie of F1 shareholder CVC to express his concerns about the future of the sport.
The Ferrari boss wants to host a meeting of key players in order to discuss what might be done. Montezemolo has made it clear recently that he is not happy with the current regulations. He also wants F1 to officially embrace social media.
The Ferrari website outlined the contents of the letter today, and its statement is worth reproducing in full:
“Ferrari has had Formula 1 coursing through its veins for over half a century and that’s why it has decided to make a move to turn the sport away from the wrong turn it appears to have taken.
“The Maranello marque has decided to do this through the means of a formal act, which is a concrete proposal, in the form of a letter from its President Luca di Montezemolo to the Formula 1 rights holder, Bernie Ecclestone and to the president of the company that owns Formula 1. It is not an ultimatum, nor a threat, but a proposal to call together all the key players in the sport to sit down around a table and come up with new ideas that will see Formula 1 continue to set the benchmark in motorsport, on level terms with global events such as the Olympics and the football World Cup.
“The President wants to see a collective brainstorming from the group to act for the good of Formula 1. Contributions from all areas are of value; teams, sponsors, promoters and media, so that the key values of Formula 1 can be re-established. President Montezemolo would also like to see other high-end players invited, those who are currently not involved or only partially so; new media, social networks and colossi such as Google and Apple.
“Formula 1 has to be based on technical innovation, research and development, but this must all be done with sustainable costs and above all, must be moved forward as part of a product that can put on a show. Because it is the show that draws in the commercial partners, the sponsors and, above all, the fans, who are the real end users of the Formula 1 product.
“Finding the right mix of these ingredients will be vital for the sustainability and the future success of our much-loved sport.”
Adam Cooper's F1 Blog 
The ‘key’ players won’t include all teams will it Luca, so this is just another publicity exercise for you, mainly.
I would agree with him, in how absurd it is to put emphasis on efficiency rather than all out performance. OTOH, Ferrari has suffered through some miserable years, and typically when they’re struggling with performance they turn to politics until they get caught up.
You will get many people thinking and saying this is just sour grapes from Ferrari, but the real reason behind this is because of the dramatic drop in F1 viewing figures……the “sport” is currently being abandoned at a rapid rate due to Bernie Shekelstones dodgy deals with the BBC and Sky Sports and taking F1 into pay-per-view territory. F1 has become too complicated for the casual fan, and those that have watched F1 for many years even have difficulty trying to explain how a tyre and fuel conserving fiasco is called a “race”!!! The lack of an even playing field as far as the technical rules are concerned just adds to the overall confusion.
Too true. How many people enjoy tuning in to hear color commentary on tyre degradation and how the new V6 ‘could’ rev to 15 grand but doesn’t because of fuel flow limits?
I would also add that along with what you’ve stated we’ve had four years where no matter what happened in the race the outcome was either Red Bull (and now) Mercedes on the podium. Ferrari, who undoubtedly carry with them a majority of fans has been fecklessly flailing away to no avail, Lotus is on the back foot, one can hardly tell if McLaren is actually in a race, Force India is about where they usually are, Sauber is having a terrible season; the backmarkers are still backmarkers, the only interesting stories this year are Williams’ pace and Daniel Riccardo.
I think motorsports and racing in general is waning in interest on all fronts, Natural selection (as a dying interest by fans) may dictate the extinction of the species. All thinks have a useful lifespan that eventually terminates for whatever reason.
If the sport wants to be more efficient and greener, make the fleet of 747’s that hauls the sport around the globe 2% more efficient. I want the lower downforce config we have now, with durable racing tires (bridgestone) which allow drivers to really push, and the return of refueling. During those days drivers hammered out qualifying lap after qualifying lap for their fuel stint.
Just as in the earlier parts of 2009, the large downforce cut is giving us some great racing and allowing cars to actually follow another and battle.
Having watched the sport for the last 20 years I think this is my favourite incarnation. The engines sound great, there’s lots of on-track action and the low-end torque requires a lot of skill to control the cars out of slow corners. I’m an engineer and I love the technology, moreover I love the fact that ERS opens up a massive array of strategies: when to charge, how much to harvest, when to deploy, etc. The on-track battles we’ve seen this year have been wonderful, far better than the snooze-fests we had during some years of Schumacher’s reign.
What downsides there are – double points, only half the races on the BBC – are down to the fools who now pretend to speak on behalf of the fans. I wouldn’t trust Montezemolo’s or Ecclestone’s judgement on what’s best for ‘Formula One’, really they’ve only their own interests at heart.
At least F1 has a precedent in that they can look at how IndyCar has tried for years to increase its dismal fan base…
went to my first race in ’88 and loved it ever since. Been to over 20 races in 5 countries so I guess i’m a fan. theses days i’m really quite over it. the engines sound hopeless and the restrictions and complications are just too much. tickets too high and tv to hard to access for an average show that f1 has become. the luster and spectacle has diminished at a rapid rate this year because the fans and traditional values of the sport have been ignored. I honestly see this as a terminal decline because if a dedicated fan such as myself in on the wane then the average punter has left…….
And i’m really sick of being told i’m an ape because I don’t like the engines. And im sick of pro f1 journalists with vested interests (pit passes) trying to convince me with false or one sided arguments how good it all still is.