Ferrari hit back following Red Bull criticism

Ferrari have hit back following the criticism the team received during the recent rows with Red Bull Racing and F1 engine regulations.

Since the new V6 turbo-hybrid era was introduced to Formula One in 2014, the sport has seen one dominant team in Mercedes.

In 2014 the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg won all but three races with Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo picking up the other victories.

In 2015 it has been a similar story, with Mercedes once again winning all but three races but this year it has been Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel standing on the top step of the podium.

In two years, just four drivers and three teams have won in Formula One and that has been down to the dominance of the engines.

Due to the lack of progress by French engine supplier Renault, Red Bull Racing attempted to drop their partnership in seek a new deal with either Mercedes or Ferrari.

The former four-time constructors championships saw their approaches rejected by Mercedes and Ferrari, whilst talks with Honda were vetoed by McLaren.

Talks with Ferrari appeared to be the most protracted, with it seemingly feeling like a deal would eventually be concluded, only for it to be eventually knocked on the head.

Due to this, and the Italian team using their veto over proposed new engine rules, Ferrari received criticism from many quarters, but Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne has hit back, especially at Red Bull Racing who had threatened to pull their two teams out of the sport altogether.

‘Red Bull is an incomplete team, Because if you have an excellent chassis, but you lack the engine then you are not complete.

‘With the power unit you can have a great chassis, but you will not become world champion: you will remain in the garage. So you have to do a deal with a manufacturer. Marchionne told Ferrari’s traditional pre-Christmas press conference.

‘But what I find really offensive in this whole affair was the claim that someone had to give them an engine to strengthen what is already a very competitive position for them.’

‘The reason that the deal with Red Bull was not successful was that, in light of the recovery that we did in 2015, to give our own power unit to a team that has the technical capabilities of Red Bull would have been dangerous.

‘My commitment is to protect Ferrari. The possibility of going to beat Mercedes along with Red Bull, I don’t care much for that. What interests me is to win with Ferrari.’