Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/917808
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 20 DECEMBER 2017 Sport 20 SPORTTODAY FORMULA 1 SAILING PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREA SCHULTHEIS Ferrari could lead others out of F1, warns Marchionne FERRARI could lead other For- mula One teams into an al- ternative championship if the sport becomes too much like the US-based NASCAR series but hope it does not come to that, chairman Sergio Mar- chionne has said. Speaking to reporters at the Italian team's pre-Christmas lunch in Maranello, the Fiat Chrysler chief executive said his previous threats to take Ferrari out of the sport af- ter 2020 should not be taken lightly. He also announced a Feb. 22 launch date for the team's 2018 car and said Ferrari should be challenging for the title after finishing runners-up to Mer- cedes this year. Marchionne said Liberty Me- dia, the US-based company which took over Formula One in January and sidelined former commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone, was learning the ropes. He took issue, however, with the approach taken by for- mer Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn, the Formula One managing director who won titles with his own Brawn GP in 2009 before serving as Mer- cedes F1 team boss. "The thing that most annoys me is that there is an experi- enced man like Ross Brawn there who is looking for ways that go against the DNA of Formula One," the Gazzetta dello Sport website quoted Marchionne as saying. "Making cars all the same with simpler and cheaper engines is like NASCAR, it doesn't interest us," he added. "We need to find a balanced solution for the future that sat- isfies everyone and I think we will do it in time. "Otherwise Ferrari will leave. If they (sceptics) think we are bluffing, they are playing with fire." Most of the Formula One teams have contracts that ex- pire at the end of 2020 and Marchionne said Ferrari would be able to walk away. "I think that Ferrari has the strength to drag others as well to an alternative champion- ship," he added. There have been similar threats in the past from Fer- rari, before Marchionne's time, without any of them coming to anything. Marchionne is a very differ- ent character to former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemo- lo, however, and Ecclestone told Reuters in November that he did not consider it an empty threat. The Gazzetta quoted Mar- chionne as also saying Ma- serati could follow Alfa Ro- meo back into Formula One in some capacity, but not yet, while Fiat Chrysler (FCA) would have a presence in some form in the Formula E electric series. Alfa Romeo, part of the FCA stable, have teamed up with Swiss-based Sauber as title partners for 2018. FCA group CEO Sergio Marchionne Mapfre Middlesea EUROMED Regatta 2017 A close-up of the Laser 4.7 fleet in action at Mellieha Bay THE 18th Edition of the Mapfre Middlesea Euromed Regatta got under way on Sun- day and will go on up till today where 156 young sailors from 20 countries are com- peting mainly in three Optimist Classes, and Laser 4.7 and Radial fleets. The latter are sailing in a single series but on a separate course from the Opti- mists. The Mapfre Middlesea Euromed Regatta is organised by the Malta Young Sailors Club and sponsored by Mapfre Middlesea p.l.c. under the patronage of the Malta Sailing Federation. The db Seabank Resort + Spa once again is recognised as the official hotel of the Regatta.