Scuderia Ferrari has defended using its veto power to prevent a cost cap on F1 engines as a simple business decision. “We exercised our veto in compliance with our legitimate commercial right to do business as a powertrain manufacturer,” Ferrari Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene said. “There’s nothing to add.” Motorsports governing body FIA wanted to cap the price of power units to make them more affordable to customer teams. However, FIA revealed last week that Ferrari blocked the proposed measure. A FIA statement read, “The FIA, in agreement with FOM (the commercial rights holder), suggested the principle of setting a maximum price for engine and gearbox for client teams at the last Strategy Group meeting. These measures were put to the vote and adopted with a large majority. However, Ferrari SpA decided to go against this and exercise the right of veto long recognised under agreements governing F1." Ferrari's estimated €418M ($460M) budget for the current season is more than five-times that of Manor racing (€83M), according to Business Book GP. The team’s strong financial situation led to questions about the reason behind the move as a price ceiling would certainly benefit the series’ smaller teams. But Mercedes backed the decision of its fellow power unit manufacturer. “Ferrari is a public company, so it is difficult as a commercial entity to just be confronted with the situation where price is being imposed,” said Toto Wolff, head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport. “It somehow takes away the commercial ability of refinancing. Now, you can say, for a large organization it doesn’t matter: a couple of millions don’t matter -- but they do.” FIA President Jean Todt confirmed the proposal called for current spec power units to be capped at €12M ($13.2M). Currently customers pay around €20M ($22M) per season for a power unit. “It is not a position against other teams,” Arrivabene added. “It is a decision that is defending a commercial principal."
SBD Global was on the ground in Mexico to cover F1's return to the country.
