Montezemolo visits Monza - 11th September 20:17pm GMT

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo is not a regular visitor to the race tracks, admitting he prefers to stay at home and watch on television. So it was fortunate that he arrived in Monza within time to watch one of the most exciting qualifying sessions of the year. Montezemolo came along with John Elkann and Sergio Marchionne, Vice President and CEO of Fiat Group respectively. 'Coming to Monza as champions and seeing us take pole with Michael right behind, in front of this fantastic crowd is very pleasing, even if I prefer to see one our cars in first place at the end of the race,' said Montezemolo.

Having dealt with matters of the day, the President then turned to the subject of the future of the sport. 'Formula 1 needs to be overhauled and we need to look to the future,' he began. 'We are coming to the end of an era in terms of the way we present our sport to the public. The teams cannot survive on such a small slice of the money, receiving only 47% of the TV rights money. Several teams are struggling to find the budget to race next year. We will study the situation as will everyone. We cannot simply rely on cost cutting and there must be more funds coming in. The current situation is unacceptable and the sport is becoming too expensive for the smaller teams and even for us.'

The President went on to praise the efforts of the Scuderia this year. 'It is a great team,' he declared. 'It has obtained exceptional results thanks in part to the support of our suppliers, especially Bridgestone, who provide us with amazing tyres. Our drivers are exceptional, with one who has won the title when many believed he was past his best and there is Rubens who has helped us to win the Constructors’ title ever since he joined us. I really hope he can finish the championship in second place. Ferrari has made its mark on history with humility, quality, innovation, concentration and sheer hard work.'

Montezemolo went on to lend his support to the FIA. 'I agree with the FIA proposals,' he maintained. 'I always agree when it is a question of safety. The cars are too quick and we must take a step backwards. As champions, change brings us no advantage, but safety is a priority.'

The current agreement regarding the running of Formula 1 goes on until 2007. 'After that need to reflect and think what to do in the future,' continued the President. 'Racing is the most important thing for Ferrari, but not necessarily Formula 1 even though it is part of our past and our present and I fervently hope, our future too. For us, Formula 1 is important for two reasons: as a source of technical research that can be applied to our road cars and as a means of publicising the Ferrari name around the world without resorting to advertising. However, we have to look at the costs involved and see if they are still worthwhile. I recently watched an FIA GT championship race, with participation from Ferrari and Maserati and I was very impressed by the whole package, the fact the public had good access to the paddock and the atmosphere in general. Formula 1 could learn from this. We need to put together a new Formula 1 which gives the teams a bigger slice of the revenue and not just from TV rights.'