Ferrari sent shockwaves through the Grand Prix world last week by declaring the marque will exit Formula One if the new 2010 budget cap regulations are not changed. Although Ferrari’s statement is more about intimidation than it is about the company’s future, it serves as a timely reminder to everyone in the sport that Enzo’s legacy is deeply significant to Formula One.

In response to next year’s planned budget restrictions, Luca Di Montezemolo’s Board of Directors stated “if this is the regulatory framework for Formula 1 in the future, then the reasons underlying Ferrari’s uninterrupted participation in the World Championship over the last 60 years – the only constructor to have taken part ever since its inception in 1950 – would come to a close.”

The message was very antagonistic from a team that has enjoyed a close relationship with Grand Prix officialdom in the past.

Formula One fans should not be overly concerned about the potential of a Ferrari withdrawal. The Board’s statement was primarily intended to draw attention to their cause, and to highlight just how serious Ferrari is about the governance of Formula One.

It seems highly unlikely that the Scuderia is about to leave the sport it helped create.

The enormous success of the Ferrari brand worldwide is due largely to the company’s racing activities. After all, they started out as a Formula One team that made road cars, not the other way around.

The Ferrari business can survive without Formula One, but its spirit cannot and neither can the prestige of its brand name. Luca Di Montezemolo is well aware of that and knows that something like a Le Mans program, however exciting, will never be a genuine substitute for Grand Prix racing.

In addition to that, Ferrari has too many long-term contracts in place and has too much invested in Formula One to make a sudden withdrawal a realistic option.

Di Montezemolo has maintained that his threat to quit is serious, and there is no doubting that Ferrari will go to extreme lengths to have the 2010 rules changed. However, the sport’s authorities should be more concerned about the similar warnings from Toyota and Renault because they are far more likely to exit in a sudden rush.

All of the teams met with the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone last week in an effort to reach a compromise. Although there was no solid outcome from their meeting, Ecclestone declared the controversial two-tier system will be dropped and that a damaging fallout with the teams will be avoided.

This is not the first time that Ferrari has tried to use its power to influence the direction of Formula One. Protests and boycotts have formed part of the culture at Maranello for over fifty years.

Enzo Ferrari never had any shame in exploiting the history and popularity of his team. Ferrari was already a major drawcard when the World Championship first began, and it wasn’t long before Enzo started using that to his advantage.

One of the support events for the 1953 French Grand Prix was a 12 hour sportscar race that started on the Friday night. Ferrari took victory in the contest but their winning car was later disqualified for not having its headlights turned on during the specified hours. Enzo was livid with the steward’s decision and immediately said that his Formula One team would not compete in the Grand Prix later that weekend. Race organisers immediately reacted to the threat, and whilst they could not reverse the disqualification, they had to double Ferrari’s starting money to ensure the Scuderia still took part.

Enzo also used the eminence of his Formula One team to help Ferrari’s sportscar efforts in 1964.

Ferrari wanted to race the awesome 250LM sportscar in the Group 3 (GT) World Championship, but the FIA refused to allow it because 100 versions of the car had to be manufactured before it was eligible for the category. Ferrari had only produced 32 examples of the car, but claimed it was a simple evolution of the 250SWB of which many had been built. Ferrari’s claim was fanciful at best, especially since the 250LM was a brand new mid engined prototype, and the Italian FIA authorities rightly refused Group 3 homologation.

In protest, Ferrari revoked the company’s Italian racing licence and arrived at the final two Formula One races of the 1964 season with blue and white cars entered by the ‘North American Racing Team’.

Ferrari made a seemingly more serious protest in 1976 and actually boycott the Austrian Grand Prix.

The team was locked in a heated battle with McLaren for the World Championship, but felt a few crucial off-track decisions were unfairly biased against them.

James Hunt’s McLaren had been disqualified from the Spanish Grand Prix for a technical infringement, but was later reinstated when the FIA’s Court of Appeal overturned the original decision.

Ferrari was disgusted with that outcome, but felt even harder done by at the British Grand Prix.

James Hunt was allowed to take part in the race at Brands Hatch after it had been red flagged, although according to the rulebook he should not have had that opportunity as he failed to complete the first lap. Race organisers had blatantly favoured the local hero, and although Hunt was later disqualified, Ferrari was left fuming that such a thing could happen in the first place.

Enzo claimed these two incidents were responsible for his decision to shun the Austrian Grand Prix, and vowed to stay out of Formula One until justice returned to the sport.

However, by that stage of the season, Ferrari’s lead driver was in hospital after a fiery crash and the team’s championship challenge was on hold. That is probably the real reason the team did not send any cars to Austria, especially since they were ready to race again once Niki Lauda looked like recovering from his burns.

Enzo was not afraid to let theatrics rule the day.

The biggest and most genuine threat from Ferrari to leave the sport came in 1986, and on this occasion the team was very serious about leaving Formula One behind.

The FIA planned to introduce new technical regulations that dictated all the teams would race with V8 engines. Ferrari wanted to run with a V12 unit instead and lobbied hard to have the restriction on cylinders lifted. They even suggested they would race elsewhere if the engine limitations were too sever.

The FIA did not fold to Ferrari’s pressure and pushed ahead with the new rules package.

Ferrari upped the ante, and announced the Scuderia would divert its attentions towards CART racing in the USA. It wasn’t such a crazy idea at the time because the American series was very strong in the late eighths, and the Indianapolis 500 was arguably the greatest single race in the world.

Competing heavily in the USA would also have boosted Ferrari’s significant North American sales.

Ferrari was serious about ditching F1 and designed, built, and tested an Indycar for the 1987 CART season. They reportedly had Bobby Rahal on standby to drive for them, and had organised a suite of US based suppliers.

Not surprisingly, the FIA took note of the developments at Maranello and changed the engine regulations so that V12’s were deemed legal once again.

A painful Ferrari desertion was avoided.

The same sort of thing will probably unfold again over the next few months. The two tier system will likely be dropped and Ferrari will agree to some form of strict financial control.

Last week Ferrari lodged an injunction in the French courts opposing the 2010 budget cap, but their action is unlikely to be successful against the legal savvy FIA. The case is being heard this week, so at least it won’t drag on for months, and hopefully it doesn’t give Ferrari’s board any reason to consider its threat to quit more seriously.

It seems unthinkable that the sports oldest team could walk away from its legacy. The FIA will surely have that in mind.

The sport’s officials should be far more worried about the intentions of other car companies. Ferrari is the only team that enjoys a special relationship with Formula One, and is the only team whose place on the grid is sacred.

Manufacturers come and go, but Ferrari is forever.