Ferrari has confirmed that it is evaluating its motorsport future which could include expanding into the NTT IndyCar Series.
With an impending cost cap of $145 million set to be introduced to Formula 1 next season, Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto is conscious that the outfit would have to lay of hundreds of staff to operate at a greatly reduced budget.
In an effort to cut redundancies, Binotto revealed Ferrari is looking at expanding into other series and highlighted IndyCar and endurance racing, which is likely to include WEC’s new LDMh regulations.
“Ferrari feels a lot of social responsibility towards its employees,” Binotto said in an interview with Sky Sports Italia. “We want to make sure that there will be a workspace in the future.
“For this reason we have started to evaluate alternative programs, and I can confirm that we are looking at IndyCar, which is currently a very different category from ours, but [will be more aligned] with a change of regulation scheduled in 2022 [when hybrid engines are introduced].
“We also observe the world of endurance racing and other series. We will try to make the best choice.”
Binotto expanded on the budget cap and said he and Ferrari support calls to cut it to $145m – which is nearing agreement – and said it simply presents another challenge for teams.
“The budget cap has been implemented already for 2021 with a view for $175m and we want to reduce it even further, facing this pandemic, and the economic crisis, so we have to reduce that to keep that low. We are about to reach an agreement to $145m,” he added.
“F1 has always had rules and regulations, such as any other sport, they are limits, we set, and the best team is the team that within the limits creates the best performing product.
“This new rule is something we have to fulfil, within limits and boundaries, and we need to do our best. It wont limit technology and innovation, it’s up to us to do our best.”