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F1: Ferrari President makes new F1 breakaway threat

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Khatir Soltani
From GMM

According to Luca di Montezemolo, there is still a risk that formula one teams will break away and form a rival series after 2012.

Although the political row with departed FIA president Max Mosley ended with peace, the current Concorde Agreement expires before the 2013 season and the Ferrari president hints that the teams are once again pushing for more of the sport's lucrative revenue.

According to the Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary who attended Thursday's media dinner with Montezemolo, the 63-year-old likens F1 at present to a "prison".

"We are at a crossroads," said Montezemolo.

He said three scenarios are possible: the status quo, new owners for the sport with Bernie Ecclestone in charge, or a model like "the NBA".

America's premier basketball league is owned by the teams.

"In the end we can always find a different promoter. At the end of the day this business is not so complicated," said Montezemolo.

Whether or not the latest breakaway threat will fail, as did all the others, Ferrari's clout is as powerful as ever and Montezemolo made clear he is no fan of the new four-cylinder engine formula for 2013.

Suffering from a bad cold and not eating dinner along with his colleagues, Montezemolo was quoted by Germany's Welt newspaper: "We must not exaggerate the savings.

"We also must not overdo it, as we have done already with the testing ban."

The Spanish newspaper El Pais quotes him as adding: "Ferrari will never make (road) cars with four cylinders.

"(And) what they (FIA) want to do is cut costs, but all they do is raise them if the rules change every five minutes. This is formula one, which should be the spearhead of technological development."

Khatir Soltani
Khatir Soltani
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