Marchionne: We have made a crap car or a real beast!

Ferrari CEO Sergio Marchionne believes his team have produced a most excellent Formula 1 car for 2018 or an extremely poor one because by his own account the technical team at Maranello appear very relaxed ahead of the new season which begins with testing in Spain next month.

Speaking from the Detroit Motor Show, Marchionne told La Gazzetta dello Sport, “I was in Maranello the last few days and I found the design guys almost too relaxed. I can only conclude that either we have made a crap car or a real beast!”

“We’ve put everything into it, to have a super strong car. You’ll have to wait until February 22 when we present it.”

Marchionne has also steered Alfa Romeo back on course in F1 with Sauber, while talk persists of a Maserati foray with Haas team, “It would make more sense to try it in F1 with the Haas team and to have reasonable costs.

“Alfa Romeo is unfinished business. We must continue to ensure that the brand is established internationally,” he added.

Marchionne is set to remain chief of Fiat-Chrysler until April 2019, but thereafter he intends to remain with Ferrari until at least 2021.

As for questions about reports that he personally was looking to buy Ferrari, Marchionne replied, “Who puts such stories into circulation? That’s nonsense!”

“Calculate that Ferrari is worth 20 billion on the stock market, so at what price would I have to buy the company? We are talking about 30 billion dollars. I’m an optimist, but I have to buy a lottery ticket for that.”

Big Question: Will the 2018 F1 Ferrari be a crap car or a beast?