Should Ferrari go to IndyCar?

Should Ferrari go to IndyCar?

With Formula One announcing that it has come to an agreement with the teams for budget caps, Ferrari have confirmed that they are considering competing in other series, notably IndyCar. The reason for this is to provide continued employment to its staff who would otherwise lose their jobs in the budget cut. I think this is laudable of Ferrari and I am pleased to see their commitment to their employees.

Is IndyCar the series we want to see Ferrari racing in and what are the other options? Here are my thoughts.

IndyCar

Currently the IndyCar series uses a single chassis supplier, Dallara, and has two engine suppliers, Honda and Chevrolet. The IndyCar is a single seater, open cockpit racing car, which makes the series an obvious contender for redeploying a Formula One design team to. Furthermore, the series is moving towards adopting hybrid power units in 2022. It is unclear if Ferrari are considering becoming a power unit supplier in competition with Honda and Chevrolet, or whether they are negotiating with the IndyCar management to become an alternative chassis manufacturer as well.

Ferrari dipped their toe in the water in 1986 when they unveiled their Ferrari 637 car, designed to run in the CART series. Whilst Enzo Ferrari stated his ambition for a Ferrari to win the Indy 500, the project never went ahead, affirming the widely held belief that the project had mainly been a political move by Ferrari to influence the rule makers at Formula One. Ferrari have had only one previous Indy 500 entry in 1952, driven by Alberto Ascari but he failed to finish the race.

IndyCar is a USA based racing series, rather than an international one, and certainly Ferrari would have nothing to prove technically by participating. It is a good fit for their employees’ skill set and it certainly would show that Ferrari can be dynamic and flexible. The main reason for entering though is the Indy 500. That race is a global event and a genuine technical and racing challenge and it is certainly within the Ferrari DNA to want to compete in this race. An Indy 500 win for Ferrari would be a genuinely great achievement for the marque and be a fitting addition to their glittering collection of racing crowns.

Formula E

Electric Vehicles are becoming increasingly popular and are part of the post fossil fuel future that we are creating. Formula E is the official FIA championship and it has rapidly grown in both prestige and popularity in its short history. It currently attracts high value marques, including Jaguar, Porsche, Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz. Should Ferrari join this series?

I would love to see Ferrari embrace Electric Vehicles and Formula E provides a great laboratory for developing this technology. There’s a problem though. I have always enjoyed Formula E but recent developments with the series are making me less keen. Formula E is a series with a standard chassis and battery, but the powertrain can be developed by the teams. This was fine, even brilliant, in the first few series where the teams were Andretti, e-DAMS, Dragon etc and even for manufacturers like Venturi and NextEV, who were new players establishing a brand. Over the last couple of seasons, manufacturers have moved in and are using Formula E to develop their powertrain technology and establish their EV credentials. Where this brings about a problem for me is that when I see Formula E advertising a team from Porsche, I expect to see a Porsche interpretation of an electric racing car, and a different Jaguar interpretation of an electric racing car from the Jaguar team, etc. It’s always a profound disappointment now to see 20 identical cars lining up on the grid.

Whilst engineering is fundamental to a great racing marque, it is not all it is and a great marque is also a pioneer in style and design. It doesn’t seem quite right to say there’s a Porsche racing car when only an invisible part of the car is produced by Porsche. Unless and until Formula E moves to allowing works chassis I don’t think it’s a good option for Ferrari.

World Endurance Championship

Ferrari are already on record expressing interest in the WEC Hypercar class. This is a very exciting class that I think would be an excellent fit for Ferrari. The cars are based on road going hypercars, 20 of which must be produced for sale each year. The cars will run hybrid systems already developed by their manufacturers. Restrictions on aerodynamic downforce and drag are designed to make the manufacturers focus on the style and design of the car, keeping it closely allied to a recognisable road car.

Having been in the doldrums in recent years, WEC’s introduction of this Hypercar class, replacing the LMP1 class, looks like it will be a game changing re-imagination of endurance racing. It will be new, cutting edge and global. If WEC gets this right, it could be the most exciting racing class on the planet, especially with their new schedule making the Le Mans 24 hour race the season ending finale. Ferrari would be foolish to miss out. Could they recapture the glory days of the early 1960s when Ferrari dominated at Le Mans?

Something new?

We are living in uncertain times. 2020 has been almost put on hold due to the global Covid19 pandemic. Climate change has become a major political consideration and the case for a Green New Deal is irrefutable. Values are changing. The current motorsport establishment need to not only react to this, but to embrace it. Perhaps in the next few years, new and different ideas for motorsport will come to prominence. It would be great to see Ferrari, one of the great pioneers of motorsport, get involved in something new and revolutionary and be in the forefront of a brand new era.

Clare Topic

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IndyCar

Formula E

World Endurance Championship