Montezemolo: We are confident and have high hopes

It is now a tradition and Luca di Montezemolo could not pass up the opportunity, even this year, to visit Wrooom, the event that for the past 22 years has kick started the Prancing Horse’s race season.

“This is always a very nice event and I want to congratulate the organisers and the truly stupendous location,” said the Ferrari President, addressing the journalists in the Madonna di Campiglio Conference Centre. “I wish you all a happy new year: the only thing I ask is to have a competitive car, that’s all. We have brought in some new blood to the team, but always with a dynamic evolution of the organization in mind, without it being a revolution, as indeed we have done several times before in the twenty years of my presidency. We have done it because we did not want to pay too high a cost for being isolated, we here in Italy, compared to the bulk of the world of Formula 1, a sport in which the vast majority of teams is based in England. Once in a while, this applies to any company, not just those in Formula 1, as it is worth while allowing a bit of fresh air in, with an injection of a new mentality and culture, strengthening areas in which we have the greatest need to increase our levels of competence. Sure, Domenicali will have to resign himself to being replaced by a Chinese person: we are bringing him on within the company…”

Montezemolo’s joke was met with laughter all round, but immediately made way for more immediate matters, with a question about Ferrari’s departure from FOTA: “I think that as in life, there are moments in which one gets on well with others and times when one feels a need for change,” replied the President. “We wish to continue playing our part in Formula 1 in a constructive manner, looking to the future of this sport which is still fantastic and part of our life. I refer, for example, to technology, to the need to reach out to a younger audience, to the need to maintain close links between racing and the manufacture of road-going cars, to young drivers and the need to give them the opportunity, through testing, to show their potential. Without wishing to cause any upsets, I think Ferrari has the right, thanks to its history, to have its say in an autonomous fashion, on the future of this sport.”

Before leaving Madonna di Campiglio, Luca di Montezemolo could not get out of casting an eye on the now imminent start of the coming race season.

“We will launch the new car on 3 February in Maranello and my hope and that of all our fans is to have a car that is competitive right from the start,” said Montezemolo. “It will be an interesting championship, with so many world champions taking part. Our two guys, Felipe and Fernando seem in great form and everyone else is working flat out on every detail. Domenicali said the car would not be pretty? I’d like it to look lousy: I say that provocatively because I want it to be a winner, reliable but also “simpatico” in the sense that it knows how to win with a smile!”

Montezemolo was asked if, in a year as difficult as the one Italy is currently going through, there is an even greater responsibility for Ferrari to be winning again: “Absolutely,” was the reply. “Each one of us, whatever our job, must contribute to upholding the name of our country around the world. We are putting in a lot of effort on the preparation of the car and so too are the drivers: we are confident and have high hopes.

“I have told Felipe to prepare well, both mentally and physically and I hope he finds a car that is better adapted to his driving style, maybe with the softer tyres,” concluded Montezemolo – “A question for Fernando? I believe he is the one to ask if this car will be quick or not. Because the fact he is quick is a certainty and maybe the question will be asked of him in Jerez after he has done the first kilometres at the wheel of the car to see what it’s like. The world championship title? We came very close in 2010, a long way off in 2011 and we want to win it in 2012. That’s easy to say, but harder to do, but we have an extraordinary sense of determination to get it done.”