Former FIA president Max Mosley thinks Ferrari's decision to veto a cost cap on engine supplies demonstrates the Italian team's "small mindedness".
The FIA is pushing ahead with plans to introduce a budget engine for 2017 -- a process which has already received interest from Ilmor and Advanced Engine Research (AER) -- after Ferrari used its historical veto to block a cap on customer engine supplies. Smaller teams are struggling to afford the current V6 power units and the sport's governing body is keen to balance the budgets with its cheaper alternative.
Mosley thinks Ferrari should be doing what is best for Formula One rather than simply protecting its own interests.
"You've got to look at the bigger picture if you are Ferrari," Mosley told Sky Sports. "Formula One that doesn't work isn't good for Ferrari because it is a huge marketing tool for them. So I think they should have been a little bit more generous and, of course, the veto anyway is a sort of thing from history.
"It came from the fact that Ferrari sat between us, the British teams, and the FIA like the fulcrum of the balance and if they moved a little bit one way or a little bit the other way, could have an influence out of proportion to the size of the team and that gradually grew into a situation where they had an effective veto all the way through.
"But I think it showed a certain small-mindedness and if I were in the position of Ferrari I'd be inclined to say 'I need Formula One to succeed and therefore I will do everything I can to see that it will succeed and if I don't win it is my engineers' fault as they have the resources and they should get on with it'."
The FIA's plan for an independent engine still needs to be ratified by the F1 Commission, but the FIA may well try and force it through via the World Motor Sport Council regardless of whether it gains the majority support required.