Ferrari considering Formula E entry

Speaking in a teleconference following the announcement of Ferrari’s Q3 earnings on the New York Stock Exchange, Marchionne said that Ferrari would not consider an entry in the all-electric single-seater series in its current guise.

However, he confirmed that its participation was “possible” in future if the technical rules were opened up and the mid-race car-swap concept was dropped.

“I have agonized over with this with my colleagues here in Ferrari for quite a while,” said Marchionne of Formula E.

“I’m going to give you two answers to the problem. If Formula E today, [as] is currently structured, requires people to change cars during a race because we exhaust the power available within a given car, that is not something that Ferrari would naturally gravitate to.

“Secondly, the standardization associated with the electric car is something which runs against the grain of Ferrari, because otherwise it will prevent [Ferrari] from playing whatever it is that it does technically on a vehicle.

“But I think it is possible that [after] some level of maturity that Ferrari would develop [a] unique set of skills that will make that car uniquely Ferrari, in an environment like that, but we are not there today.

“And, secondly, if it were to happen it would happen a few years from now. But it’s possible.”

Photo by: Ferrari Media Center

‘Hybridization’ to become standard

Speaking on the subject of Ferrari’s road car powerplants of the near future, Marchionne is a firm believer that hybridization would become “a mandatory requirement” from 2019.

Ferrari produced its first hybrid production car, the LaFerrari, in 2013 (pictured above).

He added: “I think we will be using the combination of combustion and electrification to provide unique powertrain combinations that will yield even additional performance on these vehicles.”