Mattia Binotto, Ferrari’s team principal, confirmed last month that the team was considering an IndyCar entry to avoid extensive redundancies. It’s thought that almost $100m of savings are needed to comply with next year’s cost cap.
“Ferrari feels a lot of social responsibility towards its employees, and we want to be sure that for each of them there will be a workspace in the future,” said Binotto. “For this reason, we have started to evaluate alternative programs and I confirm that we are looking at IndyCar, which is currently a very different category, but with a change of regulation scheduled in 2022.
Last summer, IndyCar delayed the introduction of new hybrid units from 2021 to 2022, partly in the hope of attracting a third manufacturer to join Chevrolet and Honda in the series.
The engines are expected to produce more than 900bhp and recover energy from the braking system. The electric motors will be integrated into the push-to-pass system, providing more power than at present.
The new engine standard will coincide with the arrival of the next-generation chassis.
Read Mark Hughes’ analysis on the difficulties facing Ferrari, as it looks to maintain its core skills and development ability, while complying with the F1 cost cap in this month’s Motor Sport Magazine.