Mattiacci: “I love racing, I'm extremely motivated”

Ferrari's new team principal, Marco Mattiacci, spoke to journalists today for the first time after Friday's free practice for the Chinese F1 GP. The Italian revealed that the first time he was offered the new role, last Friday, he thought it was a joke.

“I live in New York and I received a call at 5,58:XNUMX on Friday morning,” Mattiacci said. “President Montezemolo was on the phone and he told me 'this is my idea'”.

“I told him that April Fools' Day was 15 days ago. Then, after the second or third minute of the call, I realized he was serious. And I realized that there was already a ticket to go from New York to Milan after three hours. I arrived in Maranello on Saturday morning, at the Fiorano circuit."

Mattiacci found himself immediately immersed in the new role after spending two days with Stefano Domenicali for the handover.

“Stefano is a fantastic person. He is a friend of mine. On Saturday we spent a few hours together, and on Monday the whole day. Stefano is a person I respect enormously, both humanly and professionally, so it was natural to discuss the roles."

The speed with which Mattiacci was projected into the world of F1 led him to unusually wear sunglasses in the pit lane during Friday's free practice, characterized by cloudy skies and low temperatures: "If in less than four days you do 40 hours of I'm flying, and you haven't slept in four days, you'll probably need sunglasses,” Mattiacci explained.

“A team is made up first and foremost of people” added Mattiacci speaking of his new role. “We discussed with the president and made an initial report of what needs to be done, also on the market. But we will act with the clear idea that it is not just for the sake of shopping, but to find someone who adds high value to a team that we all believe is of the highest level in Formula 1. This is the philosophy of the moment. We will do whatever needs to be done. I don't believe much in the word strategy. I think every day needs improvement. When you come in first you look at the positive things and there is a lot of talent in this team. I'm working with Montezemolo to understand what will be needed but at this moment I can't say with certainty what will be needed. I'm not an engineer but I have 800 people working to make the car faster and we have the best engineers. It is up to me to obtain the highest possible motivation to define a certain management project. It's not up to me to make the car gain a second but up to the engineers who work for us."

The criticisms of Mattiacci's choice concern the Italian's inexperience in F1: “It's a very motivating challenge for me. I accept it because sometimes you can bring a new perspective to problems and opportunities. The fact is that I have to demonstrate that I am at the level of Ferrari and Formula 1, in front of you you have an extremely motivated person. I love racing, I love running in my free time. I probably spent 20 or 22 weekends at the track last year and I followed the 24 Hours of Daytona even sleeping on the track and trying to learn as much as I could. It's not Formula 1 but I love racing, I love continuous improvement, challenging a team to improve the car and making the most of the opportunities on the track."

“I don't think we will give up,” added Mattiacci. “Our goal is to reduce the gap from the leaders as much as possible, at the moment Mercedes are at the top. There are many variables that can influence a lap, a race, a championship. It's really too early to make decisions but our goal is to reduce the gap to Mercedes as much as possible. It is not an easy task."