Yesterday the Ferrari Board issued their third quarter results which also contained the news that, in the light of the FIA's standard engine plan for F1, Ferrari "would have to re-evaluate the viability of continuing its presence in the sport". We'll return to the financials in a later article, but thought the threat to quit F1 would not wait.

It is part of Ferrari tradition to threaten to quit F1 if things are not going the way it wants. The most famous instance of this was in 1964 when Enzo Ferrari was in dispute with the sport's governing bodies over their refusal to homologate the 250LM as a GT car.

The last time was in 2005 when Jean Todt said Ferrari had thought about leaving F1, but were persuaded not to by Bernie Ecclestone bunging them $100 million to sign up with him instead of the rival Grand Prix World Championship which was being proposed by (most of) the major car manufacturers in F1.

This time is different, in that Ferrari is united with all of the F1 teams within FOTA in opposition to the FIA. The option currently being pushed forward is for a homologated engine produced by a single supplier after an invitation to tender, with the current suppliers free to build an identical engine themselves. In other words, someone like Nicholson McLaren Engines (no relation) comes up with a design and Ferrari, Honda, BMW et al make engines to that design with their badges on.

As I said in my China GP report, this is inconceivable for any of the major car manufacturers, even Mercedes, and especially so Ferrari. The engine is and always has been the heart and soul of any Ferrari. When criticised over dubious build quality of his cars Enzo Ferrari retorted that you pay for the engine and gearbox - the rest you get for free. Things have improved considerably since those days, but the engine is still the most important single piece of the Ferrari magic.

A standard engine is also inconceivable for traditionalist fans. We all look back with great nostalgia to the days when the cars were all different, but ironically for a long period there was effectively a standard engine - the Cosworth DFV, for all but Ferrari. If the FIA made their proposal that there was to be a standard engine, except for Ferrari and their's had to be a V12, I don't think many fans would argue with it.

Sadly, whilst we may dream of once again hearing a Ferrari V12 singing away round Monza, I suspect the future will be more like identical Dallara hybrids barking and whirring round Eastern car parks at night. Is it conceivable that two of them could ever carry the Prancing Horse?

The FIA's plans are being pushed through in the name of cost saving. I have often thought that restrictive regulations probably increase costs rather than reduce them. In a wide-ranging and thought-provoking piece, Autosport GP Editor Mark Hughes covers this and much more, better than ever I could.

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The use of this picture is obligatory in any article about a possible Ferrari withdrawal from F1

For some GPs in 1975 this engine powered every car in the field - except the Ferraris

pics by unknown