Ferrari: Christmas dinner as per tradition with Italian journalists

It is a tradition as long as the Presidency of Luca di Montezemolo: the Christmas dinner with the Italian Formula 1 press takes place as a tradition in Maranello and is the opportunity to take stock of the season just ended and take a look at the one that it is going to start.

Around forty Italian journalists sat at the table with Luca di Montezemolo, Piero Ferrari and Stefano Domenicali, preceded at lunch by around fifteen foreign colleagues, who had the opportunity to exchange greetings, thoughts and words, all characterized by Ferrari red color. However, it was also a special anniversary, because precisely in these weeks - to be precise on 15 December - twenty years ago Luca di Montezemolo took possession of the role of President of Ferrari which had been assigned to him a month earlier by the FIAT Group. To celebrate the anniversary in a different way, all participants were given a special edition of the tombola, with the ninety numbers linked to an episode or a character in the history of the Scuderia over the last twenty years: from 1 - the number that Ferrari wants to have on one of its single-seaters in 2013 - at 90, the fear felt for the two serious accidents of which Michael Schumacher (Silverstone 1999) and Felipe Massa (Budapest 2009) were victims.

Among the opinions on the Scuderia's 2011 – “A very disappointing year, with the only great satisfaction of the victory at Silverstone – and on that of the two drivers – “Alonso had a great season: he is the strongest driver in Formula 1 and not by Today. Massa is the first to not be happy with his year, as we weren't but I hope and believe that, with a faster car that warms up the tires better, Felipe will be competitive again: let's not forget that he was often faster of Michael and Kimi, when he was their teammate” – Luca di Montezemolo also gave a quick historical overview: “In 1991 we sold 2300 cars, today there are more than 7000. We exported to 20 countries, they have become 58, with a turnover ten times bigger. We have a theme park in Abu Dhabi and we are negotiating to build two more, one in Korea, although nothing has been decided yet. We must be very happy with the work we have done and the next twenty years will see a Ferrari that is still very innovative in the field of road cars and that will continue to race until racing, starting with Formula 1, gives the possibility of carrying out advanced research to our cars.”

Some references to the present and future political situation of Formula 1 could not be missing. “We left FOTA, on our own initiative and without consulting anyone else, because we were tired of downward compromises” – explained Montezemolo – “Then let's be clear: if someone is in a club everyone must respect the rules, otherwise what can we do? Furthermore, I am still convinced that there is the possibility of having a common vision among the most important teams about the future and I will push hard to identify common objectives: what I want are only clear rules and clear interpretations. Situations like that of Silverstone cannot be repeated, when the rules were changed three times in a Grand Prix: in that case Ferrari decided to sacrifice its interests to avoid a breakdown that would have harmed Formula 1, with everyone who would have gone wild saying that we didn't want the agreement because we weren't competitive... Instead someone else preferred to think only of their own interest.”

The day in Maranello also served to test the journalists' ability to drive a Formula 1 car, even if only virtually. The simulator built by AllInSports under Ferrari license had been installed in the garage of the Fiorano track and the top three classifieds also had the opportunity to try their hand at its bigger brother, that is to say the simulator usually used - the last time last week - by Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa for the development of the single-seater. Triumphing in the challenge against the clock - the chosen circuit was obviously Fiorano - was Giulio Delfino, correspondent for Radio Rai, clearly the fastest on both the small and large simulator: for everyone, who was able to make use of a exception like Andrea Bertolini, an opportunity to have fun and to get closer to a reality in which nothing is enough to see the pole position, the victory in a race or the triumph in a championship vanish in such a competitive sport as Formula 1 It's always a question of thousandths….