Formula One has always been considered as the grounds to prove how good a racing team is and how good the cars and drivers claim to be. In the past, cars that were rolled out for the public, was done only after they proved their worth on the track by winning races. It was a sort of selling point for the company as well. More wins for the cars on track means more popularity for the team and higher the sales figure at the end. That is how some of the great names of Audi, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Mercedes and many others became synonymous with speed and passion.
Ferrari has more than one reason to stay in F1
Today we live in the world where speed and passion is something not seen while buying a car. You would rather go for a more comfortable and fuel efficient car with the bad road conditions and upwards spiraling oil-prices. Even though this whole concept is no more followed now, you will not find that Ferrari are one of the few companies in the world today who have kept the tradition of introducing new innovations and technologies into their production cars from their Formula One race cars, alive.
Apart from many small changes including the introduction of ceramic brakes and radical cooling systems, in their cars, the gear and transmission system have been the most influenced parts of a modern Ferrari car from their F1 counterparts. Ferrari was the first to introduce the flappy paddle gear shifts and semi-automatic gearbox terrain in a production car. Even the use of carbon fiber in the production cars were brought over from the F1 cars.
This week, Ferrari’s chairman Luca di Montezemolo stated that the switch to a V6 turbo charged engine in Formula One from the 2014 season has given the company added reason to stay in the sport. Ferrari was perhaps the only team who were really keen on making this switch into a ‘greener’ engine.
According to Montezemolo Formula One research center serves as an important asset to the company, not only for developing the cars they race but also for their range of production cars. He said that the decision of V6 was important not only for Ferrari but also for other manufactures like Mercedes and others.
Ferrari currently produces only V12 and V8 powered cars. The effort that will be put into the research and development of these new V6 engines will one day be used by the luxury car maker to add it to their range of production cars. This will immensely help the company attract more buyers and keep up a healthy image in the age when auto companies are striving to make their cars environment friendly.
Another aspect of the sport which the company adds to their list for staying in the sport is the growing globalization within the sport. Last year the company entered Korea with F1 and this year it will be India and in 2014 F1 it will be Russia. The company hopes to expand into new markets using this platform. Formula One is becoming a worldwide sport now and Ferrari would like to take this opportunity to gain popularity and foothold in a new market.
Steeped in the past old days, when production cars depended on the track record for the popularity of their car, Ferrari till date has kept the tradition alive, tweaking and redefining it according to the modern trends and the growing needs of the company.
Tags: Audi, F1, Ferrari, Formula One, Lamborghini, Mercedes, Racing Team
