Ferrari has unleashed a relentless and scathing rage against the changing landscape of Formula One, on the team’s official website. It was so impassioned and contained a plethora of hyperbole that at times it was comical:

“The thirteenth team, USF1, appears to have gone into hiding in Charlotte, North Carolina, to the dismay of those like the Argentinian, Lopez, who thought he had found his way into the Formula 1 paddock, (albeit with help from chairwoman Kirchner, according to the rumours) and now has to start all over again. Amazingly, they still have the impudence to claim that everything is hunky-dory under the starry stripy sky.

Next, we have the Serbian vultures. Firstly, they launched themselves into a quixotic legal battle with the FIA, then they picked the bones of Toyota on its death bed”

This inevitably has led to the complaints –which seem to follow the Maranello squad everywhere- that they are simply being arrogant and upset that the order is being threatened. Well yes and no…

There’s a reason Ferrari is saying this; they aren’t just going to come out and damage a relationship with new FOTA colleagues for nothing. If the new teams can’t take the pressure then they will crumble. There’s no point getting into bed with a new team that’s going to hop right out again. There’s little point in being all sweetness and light to new teams who could potentially go running off to the FIA or Bernie for help and risk the strength and credibility of FOTA especially when there are big names on their side such as Mclaren and Mercedes. Bernie has also been fairly critical of the new entrants recently.

There’s a changing landscape which ultimately means a threat to the established order. There’s more competition at the front which will be tougher for Ferrari but there are also bigger names and therefore in theory, more weight behind FOTA. Additionally, there is still the possibility for FIA vs FOTA rows in the future so FOTA needs to stay together and stand firm. However, there could be internal struggles within FOTA anyway due to Ferrari has the prestige, Mercedes supply the most teams and two of which are the biggest names in the sport while Mclaren works out its own plans in the future.

Ferrari aren’t in an ideal situation at the moment; Brawn has gone, Schumacher too (he may be old but there was fifteen years spent building up a relationship and almost a brand to be sold), they no longer have the genius of Rory Byrne, Todt’s cunning is now at the top of the FIA, Stefano Domenicali has had a few tough moments already, they endured a terrible season last year and have high expectations for a driver who is returning after a pretty big injury. To top that all off, the Italian outfit is going through a transitional phase with Alonso while facing possibly their biggest championship fight yet.

This is just my speculation but privately perhaps Mclaren are thinking along the same lines as they are have a new driver too, Whitmarsh is relatively new in charge and has faced criticism in the previous season and they have the Mercedes engine situation in the future. Mclaren at least showed they could return to form last year unlike Ferrari who has had constant doubts because news on the F10 was silent for a lot of the time which adds to the sense that this is a vulnerable squad who are just lashing out.

That would be a touch naive to say it is the sole purpose for this tirade. Ferrari has the experience to deal with a changing situation but they are under pressure. We’ve still yet to see how much of a threat Mercedes and Red Bull Racing really will be but there is the anticipation of a close battle ahead. I doubt this season and the coming ones will turn out to be a disaster for Ferrari; in fact this could well be a new but very different golden period for them but there is still the uncomfortable experience of change at hand.

F1 can live without Ferrari but Ferrari can’t without F1. They may not like what is afoot but they’re stuck with it and trying to swing as much clout and momentum for their ideas as they can. They have achieved one major thing and that is that the three car idea isn’t going away. It doesn’t have a lot of support but with these blog posts and statements it is still in the public eye and so still on the table but it does seem highly unlikely it will ever come to fruition.

Ferrari are trying to get what they want but behind closed doors every team will be plotting and planning their future, this is just a different style. If you thought 2009 was dominated by politics then the theme doesn’t seem to be going away for this season.