Ferrari hit back on Wednesday after a French court rejected their bid to prevent Formula One's governing body introducing controversial new rules next season.

The sport's most successful and glamorous team warned in a statement at the Monaco Grand Prix they could still pursue legal action and would carry out a threat to quit if the regulations were not rewritten.

The champions had gone to the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris to try and stop the International Automobile Federation (FIA) from pressing ahead with an optional 40 million pounds ($61.98 million) cap.

"There is no risk of any imminent damage which should be prevented or obviously illegal trouble which should be stopped," magistrate Jacques Gondran de Robert wrote in a statement handed to reporters.

FIA president Max Mosley said: "No competitor should place their interests above those of the sport in which they compete.

"The FIA, the teams and our commercial partners will now continue to work to ensure the well-being of Formula One in 2010 and beyond."

Ferrari said they were "continuing to evaluate whether or not to continue" with legal action in the civil courts while working with other teams to reach a solution to a crisis that threatens to tear the sport apart.

"The existence and validity of Ferrari's right of veto, as sanctioned in a written agreement with the FIA senate, were recognised by the court as was the fact that this dispute is of a contractual nature," they said.

Former champions Renault, Toyota and Red Bull's two teams have also said they cannot enter the 2010 championship under the regulations proposed while the FIA have pointed to a large number of would-be entrants eager to come in.

Ferrari said they wanted a championship where the rules were the same for everyone and where cost reductions were implemented gradually.

"If it is not possible for all parties to reach agreement, then... Ferrari will not enter its cars in a competition that, with the planned scenario in place, would see a watering down of the characteristics that have endowed Formula One with the status of the most important motor sport series," they said.

Ferrari's Brazilian driver Felipe Massa said that would be unthinkable, adding: "If you lose Ferrari, Formula One would not be the same".

The published 2010 regulations propose allowing teams who accept the cap greater technical freedom than those wishing to carry on with unlimited budgets.

While Ferrari have said this would make it a two-tier championship they cannot accept, Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone and Mosley have said they expect all teams to race to one set of regulations.

(Reuters via China Daily May 22, 2009)