Ferrari are 'not joking' about leaving - Isola

Pirelli chief Mario Isola has claimed that Ferrari are 'not joking' about threatening to leave the sport and their statements should be taken seriously, and that a departure by the Scuderia would not be beneficial for the team or Formula One overall.

Ferrari President Sergio Marchionne and various other figures at the team have expressed their discontent at Liberty Media's engine standardisation, three-engine limit, and even distribution of prize money plans, and have threatened to leave the sport if compromises cannot be made.

Isola, who is hoping to secure a further Pirelli contract with F1 beyond 2020, has claimed that he hopes Ferrari and F1 can sort out their issues, but the Prancing Horse must be taken seriously in their threats to leave.

“If they say something it is serious, they are not joking on these kinds of claims,” Isola told Crash.net

“At the end of the day I hope they can talk and find a solution that is satisfactory for both parties.

“There is no interest for Formula 1 to lose Ferrari and there is no interest for Ferrari to lose Formula 1. It is not a win-win situation if Ferrari pull out of F1. It makes no sense.”

Isola went on to discuss Pirelli's future in F1 and whether Ferrari's presence would affect their renewal proposals beyond 2020.

“This question we’ve never considered because Ferrari was talking about [leaving] in 2021 so first of all we have to renew our contract before we can consider that,” he said.