Ross Brawn, Formula 1's managing director of motorsport, says he feels 'offended' by recent comments made by Ferrari CEO Sergio Marchionne regarding the future of the series.
Marchionne has made it clear Ferrari would quit F1 if it felt the sport would be no longer carry its 'DNA', this was a reference to the proposed power unit regulations for 2021 and beyond, something which Brawn has helped to draw up as part of his role within F1 management.
Financial implications have also been a part of Ferrari's concerns over F1's future beyond 2020, especially with its contentious bonus payments being threatened. Talks of cost caps and other monetary restrictions are also possibilities which the Italian manufacturer feels are against their interests.
Speaking in an interview with RadioSport.co.nz, Brawn said: "I find it personally offensive when people accuse me of dumbing down the sport because we know if we did that we'd spoil the sport at its core, and we'd spoil the commercial basis of the sport as well.
"The teams at the top are probably spending two or three times what they were spending five or six years ago, and yet you wouldn't say five or six years ago that the sport was dumb. So it's just a question of degree.
"We have to help the teams at the top recognise and realise that to have a sport for the future we've got to rebase the commercial revenues for the teams, we've got to rebase the amount of scope that the teams are allowed to explore technically in order to give a more exciting competition."
The former Ferrari technical director also further explains how the continuous political drudgery which often holds up the discussions makes the whole process too sensitive, making every debate more difficult to solve due to the self-interest of the teams.
However, despite the constant clashes Brawn believes there are solutions which can be found in the future regulations given the lead time involved in creating them.
"There are always vested interests, and it's not just a simple technical problem, we have the political problem of what is the governance going forward? In other words, what role do the teams play, what role do we play, what role do the FIA play? Governance is a sensitive topic. The commercial revenues to the team is a sensitive topic. Budget control, which is something we're very enthusiastic about, is a sensitive topic.
"When you've got three or four areas that are being hotly debated, sometimes it colours or clouds other issues. So what would seem like a simple technical challenge or objective is sometimes clouded because the teams are sensitive to other areas and therefore don't co-operate.
"But I think broadly speaking, the technical side which we're discussing is well supported by all the teams. They recognise that if we're talking about solutions for 2021, they're not affected in the short term, they're not disadvantaged in the short term and we should work towards better solutions for the future."
Discussion about this post