According to a report from Red Bull’s Speed Week, Scuderia Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has confirmed that Ferrari will not be joining the NTT IndyCar Series paddock as an engine supplier when new hybrid powertrains come to the series in 2023.
“After our discussions, we came to the conclusion that we will not be entering IndyCar anytime soon,” Binotto told the site.
“That might be possible in the medium and long term. But today we want to concentrate our investments on Formula 1 involvement.”
Though the news may be disheartening to many fans, Penske Corporation president Bud Denker reassured that the series is still looking working with other manufacturers to possibly join Chevrolet and Honda on the grid.
“What we have said in the past is that we have not just one manufacturer, but many manufacturers we’ve been in discussion with,” Denker told RACER.
“It’s prudent to ensure you lay a base broadly, instead of just one, and we’ve been transparent about that. We’re optimistic about bringing another manufacturer — or manufacturers — into our sport, and those conversations are continuing. I’m hopeful that those things will come to fruition. They take time, for budgetary, scope, and resource reasons.”
Denker also believes that the window is still wide open to get more manufacturers into the sport with enough time for approval from the brands and time for testing.
“I don’t think we’re on the clock yet,” Denker said.
“There are some unique ways we can help manufacturers to get there that I don’t want to get into. I’m not stressing about it, and there’s still time to have another manufacturer here with the proper time for development.”
The series currently employ a 2.2-liter twin-turbo V6 engine that produce approximately 700 horsepower without push-to-pass boost added. In 2023, the new 2.4-liter V6 engines will bring a spike in horsepower to 800. Along with that, a kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) capable of adding another 80-100 horsepower upon deployment.
