Ferrari could veto Toto Wolff Formula 1 role. Ferrari could veto Toto Wolff Formula 1 role.

It is well documented – and pretty obvious to even the most casual observer – that the teams, especially the major power players, rarely agree on anything.

Imagine therefore, the reaction from the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull were, as is being claimed, Toto Wolff, a man synonymous with Mercedes, to be named as F1 supremo, succeeding Chase Carey when the American’s contract ends next year.

Ignoring the question of who would head Mercedes following his departure, a move which would surely fuel further speculation that the German team might quit F1 and concentrate on other motorsport activities, namely Formula E, there is the little matter of whether Ferrari and Red Bull would accept the former boss of their main rival – and benchmark – as the new boss of the sport.

While Red Bull would have to do what it always does, whinge, Ferrari would at least have recourse to its well-documented power of veto.

Ferrari’s possibility of having a direct vote in what happenes in Formula One is well known, Jean Todt revealing last year that Enzo Ferrari had first requested power of veto at a time the Garagistes were dominating the sport with their V8 Cosworths.

Ferrari “was the only team supplying engine and chassis against some other teams that were all powered by Ford,” revealed the FIA president last year. “So at this time, it was decided that being away from what is called the silicon valley of motorsport, they needed to have a protection. That is the story about the veto. But personally, I feel now I am not in favour of that. Times have changed.”

However, over the decades that followed, even though it might have spent years in the wilderness in terms of titles, Ferrari’s power and influence within the sport grew. How much power and influence became clear in 2013 when the prospectus for the planned flotation of F1 on the Singapore stock market in 2012 was revealed. Though the global financial crisis put the brakes on the floatation, the prospectus had already been produced and what it revealed is the stuff of F1 legend.

As has been well documented, Ferrari can block changes to the regulations, the prospectus revealing that F1 and the FIA “allow Ferrari to veto any change to the regulations already announced or introduced (subject to certain exceptions).”