The long stretch since the end of the golden era that saw Ferrari claim 8 constructors' titles and 6 drivers' titles, have not exactly been kind to Ferrari. Runner-up six times since then and third four times, the Maranello outfit slipped as low as fourth twice as it played support act during the Red Bull and Mercedes eras.

Yes while the Maranello outfit has suffered on track, financially it has prospered, its various bonuses ensuring that it will pocket at least $100m before the season has even begun and eventually walk away with more prize money than the champions.

Despite the lack of success, the Italian team has also prospered in terms of sponsorship, new research revealing that despite the lack of titles the Maranello team has raked in around £1.65bn ($2.1bn).

Ferrari's sponsorship success peaked in 2010 at £196.9m ($249.5m), which, according to Forbes, was the biggest annual total for any F1 team to the end of 2018.

At that time, Ferrari's deal with Santander was worth an estimated £39.4m ($50m) a year, with Philip Morris coughing up a further $100m. Despite the tough restrictions on tobacco advertising, the American giant is still funding the Italian team to the tune of $50m a year.

Interestingly, another team that has performed significantly better in terms of sponsorship than track performance is McLaren, which over the same period raised $1.2bn in sponsorship.

The outfit peaked in 2009, just a year before Ferrari, when it raised £145.9m ($184.9m), though by last year this had slipped to a 'paltry' £45.7m ($57.9m).

Over the period, the Woking team's impressive portfolio included a number of blue chip companies, not least Vodafone which, at its peak, was pumping £59.2m ($75m) a year into the McLaren coffers.

According to the Formula Money Sponsorship Database, between 2009 and 2018, while Ferrari raised $2.1bn and McLaren $1.2bn, Red Bull raised £767.7m ($972.6m), Mercedes/Brawn £745.8m ($944.9m), Renault/Lotus £613.3m ($777m), Williams £553.5m ($701.3m), Sauber/BMW £362.7m ($459.5m), Force India £280.8m ($355.8m), Toro Rosso £220m ($278m) and Haas £73.1m ($92.6m).

Over the period, the various sponsors paid £14bn ($17.8) billion with Ferrari's tally accounting for around 11.8% of the total.

No matter how much the Italian company might threaten should it not get its way, only a fool would walk away from this sort of money when it doesn't even have to deliver a title in return.

Then again, perhaps the financial lack of incentive is the Italian team's real problem.