Mattia Binotto, Ferrari, Spa-Francorchamps, 2019

Using Ferrari’s veto on 2021 rules would be “a shame” – Binotto

2021 F1 season

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Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto says it would be “a shame” to block F1’s 2021 rules changes by using its controversial veto right, but has not ruled it out.

The team has objected to elements of the proposed rules changes for 2021. When asked by RaceFans, Binotto said his first choice would not be to use the veto, but to lobby for changes in the rules.

“Obviously we’ve got the veto right and it would be a shame to use it,” said Binotto. “I don’t think that’s the intention, I don’t think that’s really what we are looking for.

“More important is to be very constructive and we’ve got in a month’s time to try to address what’s the fundamentals from now to to the end of October. If the regulations will not be fully satisfactory by the time end of October, I don’t think that again will be a drama because later on we still have time to evolve, address and improve them.”

A key part of F1’s new rules for 2021 is a new aerodynamic specification which is intended to make it easier for cars to follow each other closely. However Ferrari considers the regulations too restrictive, and Binotto wants them to be relaxed, giving greater freedom to designers.

“There are a few things which are important for us which first is the degree of freedom on development,” he said. “The degree of freedom especially if we think of the aerodynamics regulations, which we believe is too prescriptive. [Also] the degree of freedom on the other parts of the car where some prescription have been set.

“So I think these are the key points on which there is still room [for] collaboration and making a different choice compared to what has been achieved so far. So again we are more focussed really on trying to collaborate and address what we believe is fundamental rather than simply saying that we’ve got a veto right.”

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37 comments on “Using Ferrari’s veto on 2021 rules would be “a shame” – Binotto”

  1. I hate their Veto-power, and I never thought I would say this, but, Mr.Binotto, Ferrari, please use it.

    Atrocity which 2021 changes are turning into must be abolished before it even has roots to grow.

    1. I don’t say changes are not needed.
      But not at such cost.

      In 25+ years of following I’ve seen many changes to F1, but none risked ruining the sport altogether.

      1. It would be quite interesting to know which rules are risking ruining the sport, also to know what “ruining the sport” means to you, because other people think it’s already ruined and that new rules are necessary to save it.

        By the way, I don’t even consider F1 to be a sport, just entertainment.

        1. JGTorres, to many, it is the idea of ever increasing standardisation and reducing the design options for the cars, with the concern that the long term objective from Liberty Media is a semi-spec series.

          It is the sense that Liberty Media are chasing after more casual fans at the potential cost of alienating the longer term fans with gimmicks that put them off – especially when the concern is that the gimmicks don’t even seem that well pitched towards that casual audience, such that they’re likely to miss out on both markets (what many would call the NASCAR syndrome, which is left with a rump of ageing, disaffected and disinterested fans as the casual audience failed to materialise).

    2. in principle it’s preposterous. If you watch f1 long enough, it’s an f1 thing.

  2. This veto is like a nuclear weapon – you don’t need to use it, just the threat, the merest hint, can sometimes get the message across. And this statement by Binotto seems to have that intent: “That’s a nice set of regulations you have there, it’d be a shame if something happened to it”.

    1. Ah, I see I was ninja’d by you tgere @phylyp, well said :)

    2. FIA: “That’s a nice veto you have there. Would be a shame if something happened to it”

      1. @socksolid – let Liberty and the FIA pull the trigger. I’m won’t complain :)

        1. I wonder if ferrari can veto it if fia tries to remove their veto?

  3. This veto thing is a joke really. If they must give Ferrari more power than the other teams maybe they could just give them 2 votes instead of 1. This could be used as a tie breaker if need be without being as powerful as a full veto.

    1. Moreover, by saying this he actually already used the veto.

  4. I hope the question mentioned the Veto, because otherwise it sounds way too much like would be a shame if some kind of veto happened to those nice rules you have for 2021, ie. a rather naked threat.

    Now, I am relatively okay with Binotto saying that he wants to negotiate, and suspect Mercedes, Red Bull are happy to let him take point on this, but it still shows the Veto being used as a nuclear option.

  5. So is he saying that he hopes everybody will just give them what Ferrari wants so they don’t need to use their veto?

    Or is this a matter of pulling his words out of context? ie the article is rather poorly written and does not give the actual question which Binotto is answering. So it ends up looking rather “click baity” now. The article makes it look like Binotto comes out of the box unprovoked swinging his veto in people’s faces.

    1. Five lines into the above article is ‘When asked by RaceFans’…so Dieter (presumably) asked, and Binotto gave an informative answer.

      Binotto is hardly swinging his veto in peoples’ faces when he says they’d rather not use it and would rather negotiate towards what they think would be better.

      1. @robbie Yes I read that, but what question was that?

        The article makes it look like Binotto mentions the veto out of the blue twice at the opening of the interview as potential leverage. How is that now swinging the veto in people’s face? Although you actually seem to think when a robber says “I would rather not shoot you, but I would like to receive all your valuables” it is not a threat, but just polite conversation about having a gun and not wanting to actually use it. So yeah …

        Or alternatively the question could have been “Do you intend to use the veto to block these changes”. That would completely alter the context of these remarks.

        1. @f1osaurus I didn’t read into it that way at all, obviously. I think it is pretty obvious that the question RaceFans asked had to do with Ferrari potentially exercising their veto right over the new 2021 regs. Binotto then proceeds to explain, in my interpretation, that using their veto right would be a last resort. I don’t see any throwing it in peoples’ faces, nor making a threat, and it is not like we don’t know they have this right or that we need reminding of it once in a while.

          For me, what we’ve learned is what remaining concern Ferrari has, and it is a concern perhaps other teams and certainly a percentage of fans have…that F1 not go too spec. I think that is a healthy concern for the sport, not that I am that concerned personally. Your robber and gun analogy is ridiculous and misplaced and is your usual stretch to try to back your point, which in this case sounds quite paranoid.

          1. @robbie Well your reading comprehension skills are clearly not that good (to say the least), but without context even people who do posses that skill are left guessing.

  6. Simple, no Ferrari no Veto.
    So if you want to stop a veto just throw Ferrari out of F1.

    F1 can survive without Ferrari. But the problem is not the Veto or Ferrari leaving. The real problem is a raceclass build on development will be gone after those proposed Rules. No development will kill the DNA of F1 for good.

    1. This is a first but I agree with you 100%.
      F1 DOES NOT NEED FERRARI! If the FIA let Ferrari veto the ruling powers decisions then F1 can no longer be considered a competitive sport. Take this joke veto away from ALL teams.

      1. You really think F1 does not need Ferrari? Good luck with that! Probably 3/4 of the fans go away, the money disappears and most of the other teams. You’d end up with a worse version of Indycar.

        Thank God Ferrari has the veto to keep at least some of the Liberty idiocy at bay.

    2. What are you talking about? Ferrari needs F1 and F1 needs Ferrari, simple as that. There’s obviously an intention to get the rules “right” on both sides. Binotto is saying he wants to get there in a constructive manner.

  7. Did anyone hear any team complaining Ferrari veto? They place it approx once in ten/15 yrs. Last time they stamped it after hided request from other Main rivals. Ferrari Vetto is The only hard tool for all team vs FIA

    1. Ferrari Veto is The only hard tool in F1 and only Ferrari can use it for its own benefit

      Fixed that one for you

  8. I read an article that stated Mercedes and Red Bull were aligned with Ferrari on the aero restrictions and if Ferrari used their veto it would be done in cooperation with the two other teams. The article also stated that there were still concerns about the proposed spending cap which also may be vetoed as a team effort. So while Ferrari have the power to veto, they may not be the only ones behind it.

    1. Personally I couldn’t care less if all the teams were supporting Ferraris veto. The ruling power, AKA the FIA, should make the rules and teams should either leave F1 or comply. How can F1 be considered a competitive sport when they have vetos like this in place?
      It really doesn’t matter if Ferrari are using their veto for good or bad. They are NOT the ruling body so should only have the option to leave or compete under the prescribed rules.

      1. Exactly what Dean said.

        It really is that simple.

  9. Nothing quite demonstrates how desparately F1 needs to be reformed than one competitor having way more power over the rules than all other competitors.

  10. Does Ferrar’s veto even apply to the 2021 regulations? They’re only signed up until the end of 2020, surely Liberty and FOM can just say ‘not applicable’?

    1. You’d hope for that. However, Ferrari has negotiated to keep their veto post 2021. Seems the negotiations were successful. Or will be. Or else!

  11. Ferrari only has a contract between them and Liberty with a veto written into it for anything to do with racing up until the end of 2020.
    The veto, unfair payment structure, bonuses, etc don’t exist for 2021 & beyond … & the only way they will reappear in the new agreement is if Liberty are stupid enough to put them there, or cave to pressure from individual teams which would be weak.
    Liberty has a marketing platform the teams want to be a part of, & a huge pot of money the teams want a share off.

  12. Distribute the wealth more fairly without a budget cap. I’m not in favour of forced levelling the playing field via a budget cap because it resticts the business value of F1 as a whole. Just give smaller teams more of the wealth to help them grow. As for more standardisation, well I’m not in favour of that. F1 should be unique, not like other racing series. Just distribute the wealth more evenly between the teams!! (did I say that?)

  13. An ancient Italian proverb says, “dogs bark, but the caravan goes on”.

  14. I’m not concerned over this. Ferrari wants more freedom for designers. If they all agree to that I still think the basic infrastructure of the new cars will not be able to be altered so much that we are back to processions. I don’t believe they’ll be able to make so much wake that cars will still be disturbed in dirty air too much. They won’t be able to make such a different front wing that it will be a wing badly affected in dirty air. The ground effects tunnels under the car are going to make a big difference compared to the flat floor.

    So I don’t mind if Ferrari (and thus the other teams) gets their way and get a little more freedom for design and ingenuity. That’s a big part of F1 too and prevents it from being spec. If the cars weren’t being so drastically changed I’d be more concerned that Ferrari’s desires might affect F1 too negatively, but I can’t see it with what they are proposing for the new chapter.

    Sure a little more design freedom equals higher costs to run a team, but then they’re addressing that too. And as I think Binotto is hinting at, there is time to tweak things later on. I haven’t nor ever will expect everything to be perfect, for different people have different opinions on what perfection would be anyway. Liberty and Brawn may not get it perfect for March 2021, and that is to be expected and is fine. F1 is a constant work in progress.

  15. “This is a nice Formula you got here. It would be a shame if anything.. untoward.. were to happen to it.”
    – Don Veto

  16. Because of the way the budget gap is introduced I think there is a moderate danger that big teams can spend a lot of money to make killer car for 2021 during 2020 when the budget gap is not enforced. And then as the budget gap is activated in 2021 they can carry that advantage for minimum of couple of years simply because other teams can not spend as much money to optimize their package to catch up. Currently the big flaw for 2021 rules is that while you have limited car design rules and limited budgets the (top) teams still have totally free budgets in 2020 to build the car for 2021. It would be gullible to assume they are not going to do it.

    For that reason I think a good solution might be to make 2021 pretty strict and then gradually loosen the rules in ’22 and have the full freedom rules for ’23 and onwards. The budget gap guarantees that each team is limited mostly by their ingenuity and the gradual introduction of freer rules prevents big teams spending billions in 2020 to create a killer car for the new era of technical rules.

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