Many of the biggest teams in Formula One extract enormous budgets from the automakers that own them: BMW, Renault, Toyota, Honda, even Mercedes-Benz, which is part owner of McLaren. Not Ferrari, though. The team, part of the Maranello-based sportscar maker, is owned by the Fiat auto group. However, Fiat does not contribute even one centesimo (er... euro-cent) to the team's budget.
This according to Luca Cordero di Montezemolo. And he should know, being both president of Ferrari and chairman of Fiat (in the mid-'70s, Montezemolo directly headed up the Scuderia before being promoted up the Fiat ladder). The marquis insists that the entirety of the Ferrari F1 team's budget is generated from within Ferrari, through the sales of its road cars (all of which go for six digits) and the team's sponsors, to say nothing of the company's considerable merchandising efforts.
[Source: The Daily Telegraph via F1-Live, Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Proud Japanese @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:48AM
Don't let this make you believe that Ferrari don't have one of the biggest budgets. For one, they're sponsored by Marlboro which gives them vast amount of money. They sell a lot of merchandise with the Ferrari badge on it.
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/25/ferrari-and-maserati-report-record-quarter/
They 456 million euro in revenue from Ferrari cars alone.
Todd @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:24AM
Yeah, even with no logo on the car ( but plenty of hot chicks passing out cigarettes in the pits ) Marlboro pays Ferrari millions and millions. Is that supposed to be a secret or something? Politically correct Europeans are playing "see no evil, speak no evil" ignoring their beloved race series is artificially propped up by an American cigarette company?
Pdexter @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:46AM
I don't think it's a secret that Ferrari has second biggest budget with +400 million, while Toyota being number one.... with who knows how big budget.
Enzo sold road cars only to fund Ferrari racing and they partly continue that great tradition.
Richardh @ Jul 3rd 2008 7:15PM
I wish toyota would do better spending so much money :(
Temple @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:39PM
Well yeah, Ferrari is being funded by Phillip-Morris. Which is paying an incredible amount of money to Ferrari to vaguely advertise the Marlboro brand (they can't directly advertise anymore)
ksmith @ Jul 8th 2008 11:39PM
Is it just me, or does his head look really, really big in that picture?