Ferrari says it is the only carmaker on F1 grid

Ferrari believes it is the “only car manufacturer still in formula one”.

The famous Italian marque made the claim in the hours before its 2010 car, the F10, was unveiled on Thursday amid the new assembly lines for Ferrari road cars at Maranello.

But despite Honda, Toyota and BMW pulling out of F1, the grid still boasts carmaker names including Renault and Mercedes.

Pressed as to how he justifies thinking Ferrari is now the only car manufacturer in F1 when Mercedes is fielding a works team in 2010, president Luca di Montezemolo said: “You can not compare Ferrari with Mercedes.

“We have been in formula one for 61 years without interruption, and in Italy.  Mercedes as the German team has everything built in England.

“First they were a partner of McLaren, now they have purchased the former Honda team.  But they have taken the courageous path of increasing the involvement in formula one, and I very much welcome that,” he added.

“I have great respect (for Mercedes),” Montezemolo continued.  “But it’s a different involvement to us.”

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