MARANELLO, Italy — The Formula 1 tie-up between Ferrari and Tata has made headlines, but it is actually just a more high-profile continuation of a relationship already in place.In addition to the personal friendship of respective company chiefs Ratan Tata of India and Luca Cordero di Montezemolo of Fiat and Ferrari, Tata has been a Formula 1 partner of Maranello for three years via Tata Consulting Services. It has been a low-key relationship in which Ferrari has used information technology developed by Tata, with a team of Tata engineers present at every race during the season. Now Tata is taking a larger role as a key sponsor of the F1 scuderia, with a three-year contract for their increased partnership.'Ferrari by now is a professional bank,' says a source in Maranello who agreed to be frank with Inside Line on a promise of anonymity. And indeed, neither Ferrari nor mother company Fiat have resorted to government aid since Montezemolo and Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne have been at the helm. Instead, they have built an enviable network of marketing sponsorships, industrial partnering and merchandising. The source told IL that the Tata arrangement includes 'the upped F1 money invested, plus additional monies for as-yet-undisclosed purposes.' One might look at the agreement as a sale of a percentage of Ferrari to Tata directly, much like the 5 percent of the overall company currently owned by the Abu Dhabi investment group (not to mention the Ferrari theme park opening there soon). In addition, Tata has the contract to build the Fiat Grande Punto and Linea cars for the Indian market.Some observers have hypothesized that Tata could replace Marlboro as Ferrari F1's number-one sponsor, especially since cigarette advertising is prohibited on cars or uniforms at most race venues. Reportedly, though, the Tata sponsorship will appear only as the corporate logo — not the name 'Tata' — on the car and clothes. At present, Marlboro's $25-million-plus deal ensures no other sponsor can take its place there.Meanwhile, there have been reports that Ferrari is in a delicate state, despite an announcement earlier this week by the automaker that it has had its best sales year to date. Our source has a different point of view, telling IL: 'All is not well. The 612 Scaglietti has apparently stopped mainline production, and F430 orders have been hurt hard by the launch of the California.'While 599 GTB Fiorano orders are still reportedly sold out for a couple of years, reports have trickled out that all future Ferraris have been put on a later timeline until the world economy improves.Last week Maserati, Ferrari's fellow semi-autonomous company within the Fiat Group, announced it will cut 2009 production from about 10,000 units to 6,000 because of low demand and said it won't renew the contracts of 112 workers that expire on December 31. The immediate reaction by the workers' unions was to call a one-day wildcat strike in protest.There has been a lot of talk of 300 layoffs happening imminently also in Maranello. Whether or not this comes to pass, observers in Italy believe Ferrari will need to cut staff aggressively after the first quarter of 2009.Inside Line says: Even the golden companies look a little less shiny these days. Look for lots of strikes all'italiano in both Modena and Maranello starting in April 2009. And those famous two-year waits could turn into three years. — Matt Davis, Correspondent