Marchionne jokes Ferrari engineers are 'too relaxed' ahead of new F1 car launch

Ferrari's Chairman Sergio Marchiane was in Detroit yesterday and had a few things to say about his F1 team's prospects for the season ahead, suggesting that the team seems very calm ahead of the roll out next month of the new car.

Marchionne was very angry after the team bombed on home soil at Monza, but notably less so at the end of the F1 season despite losing the world championships to Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton.

There was little in the way of blood on the carpet, the group remained stable and his comments in Detroit suggest that this calmness will translate into a strong package for 2018.

"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," he told Italy's Gazetta dello Sport.

Marchionne said his objectives are "to win the world championship in F1 and to make a boat load of money with Ferrari."

He also suggested that he was no longer thinking of using the Maserati brand in Formula E, but rather that, "it would make more sense to try it in F1 with the Haas team and to have reasonable costs."

Speaking to Motorsport.com Italy he also denied the widespread rumours that he plans to take control of Ferrari as part of his retirement plan from FCA (FIAT Chrysler Automobiles) in the next couple of years. He floated the business on the New York Stock Exchange last year.

"Do the maths; Ferrari is worth 20 billion on the stock market, what price should I buy it for? We are talking about 30 billion. We can all be optimists but I'd need a lottery ticket."