Ferrari in budget battle with Formula 1

MILAN, Italy (AP) — The storied Ferrari team threatened to not race in Formula One next season unless the sport’s governing body revokes its new budget cap.

The Italian team, which has been involved in all 60 seasons of F1 competition, said Tuesday the new FIA guidelines were arbitrary and would set a double standard.

“The same rules for all teams, stability of regulations, the continuity of ... endeavors to methodically and progressively reduce costs, and governance of Formula One are priorities for the future,” Ferrari said in a statement after a board meeting.

“If these indispensable principles are not respected, and if the regulations decided for 2010 will not change, Ferrari does not intend to enter its cars in the next Formula One world championship.”

Ferrari said it hoped fans would understand this “painful choice.

FIA president Max Mosley has said the sport could survive without the Italian giant, although Formula One drivers have disagreed. The Formula One Teams Association has asked for urgent talks with the governing body over the budget cap.

Ferrari is one of F1’s richest teams. It is also one of its most successful, with 15 drivers and 16 constructors championships. Kimi Raikkonnen, in 2007, was the last Ferrari driver to win the title.

This season, Ferrari is off to its worst start. The team has only six points after five races, with Felipe Massa’s sixth-place finish in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix. He trails overall leader Jenson Button of Brawn GP by 38 points.

Ferrari has grown frustrated in recent years with what it sees as the autocratic leadership of Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone and Mosley.

Mosley is leading FIA’s push to curb costs, with a voluntary $60 million budget cap made available to teams. Teams that don’t adhere to the cap will not receive the same technical freedom, something Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has called “fundamentally unfair.”