Ferrari warned it could reassess F1 future over 2008 standard-engine plan

Ferrari supported efforts to cut Formula 1 costs in 2008, but opposed the FIA's proposal for standard engines across the grid. After a board meeting, the Scuderia said its board reserved the right, after consulting its partners, to reassess whether Ferrari would remain in the sport if the FIA went ahead.

Then FIA president Max Mosley was seeking to rein in spending. A week before Ferrari's statement, sporting director Stefano Domenicali and Toyota's then F1 vice-president John Howett had met Mosley to discuss cost savings. The meeting went smoothly, and Ferrari backed substantial reductions; the standard-engine proposal was the sticking point.

Ferrari's statement argued that standard engines would remove what it regarded as Formula 1's defining purpose: competition and technological development.

Ferrari had competed since the first world championship race in 1950 and was the only team never to have been absent from the calendar. The standard-engine proposal ultimately did not go ahead, and Ferrari stayed in the sport.