IndyCar CEO Mark Miles said that it “would be very exciting for everyone associated with the sport” if Ferrari enters the series, as speculation about the possibility has ramped up in recent weeks. Miles also revealed to THE DAILY a previously undisclosed fact that he met with Ferrari and Lamborghini last year during a trip to Italy with Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb to try to evangelize the series. Miles was already in the country for an event with IndyCar’s Italian chassis manufacturer Dallara, but the fact that IndyCar has pitched itself to Ferrari in recent years was not previously known. Ferrari is one of the teams in F1 negotiating a lower-than-anticipated budget cap for ’21 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the fabled team has told European media in recent weeks that in order to avoid laying off staff because of the lower cap, it may start a new IndyCar program. Ferrari also said it is exploring starting a World Endurance Championship team -- the series that runs the 24 Hours of Le Mans race among other events.
READING BETWEEN THE LINES: Miles said that naturally it would be great for one of the world’s top sports car brands to enter IndyCar, potentially as a third engine manufacturer. But he said, “I don't have any other comment about the likelihood of that happening.” Miles would not comment on whether IndyCar has started new dialogue with Ferrari since the comments. IndyCar Owner Roger Penske has some ties to Ferrari via Philip Morris, whose Marlboro brand was a former longtime title sponsor of Team Penske and which continues to be Ferrari’s title sponsor, via its Mission Winnow brand. Penske’s presence as the new owner of IndyCar is starting to be felt in F1, as he revealed to Racer magazine in March that he had assigned his son, Greg Penske, to hold talks with F1 CEO Chase Carey about possibly bringing that series back to Indianapolis Motor Speedway as soon as ’22.
