IndyCar remains in talks with Ferrari, despite rumors
Although reports from Italy suggest that Ferrari has decided not to build an IndyCar engine, Penske Entertainment says that conversations are ongoing.
In May this year, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto confirmed that the Scuderia was evaluating the possibility of entering the NTT IndyCar Series, as the series switches to 2.4-liter hybrids – a formula switch that has since been pushed back to 2023.
The introduction of a budget cap in Formula 1 is due to free up staff to work in other projects, rather than be released by the team, and Binotto said at the time that Ferrari “feels a lot of social responsibility towards its employees and we weant to be sure that for each of them there will be a workspace in the future.”
He mentioned, too, that as well as IndyCar, endurance racing was being evaluated.
Today, Motorsport.com’s Italian sources reported that a decision has been made at Maranello to not go the IndyCar route but instead tackle a sportscar project with the target being overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Ferrari marque last triumphed overall at Le Mans in 1965, when the NART-entered Ferrari 250LM of Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory prevailed.
In response to Motorsport.com’s enquiry regarding IndyCar, Roger Penske responded with a written statement: “Attracting additional OEMs is one of our key strategies for the NTT IndyCar Series.
“We continue to have in depth conversations with several different companies who remain interested in joining the sport.
“Ferrari is one of those brands who have shown interest and we remain in conversations with them about the opportunity to join IndyCar.”
IndyCar last enjoyed three race-winning engine manufacturers in 2005 – Honda, Chevrolet and Toyota – although in the first year of the current 2.2-liter twin-turbo V6 formula, 2012, Lotus joined Chevy and Honda. However, the Lotus units were so underpowered that all but one team (HVM Racing) switched to an alternative OEM before the midway point of the year.
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