Luca di Montezemolo’s resignation as Ferrari chairman on Wednesday severs a historic link with the team’s late founder Enzo and marks the end of an era for Formula One’s most successful and glamorous team.
Without him in Maranello, or followed by a media scrum on his rare visits to the F1 paddock, the team may seem a little less flamboyant and the sport a little less colourful after October 13, when the Italian will step down officially. But both will survive.
The era of Ferrari dominance on the track has been over for a while, however.
The Italian team have not won a championship since 2008, or a race since May last year. Their last pole position was in 2012.
“I suppose we’re approaching the end of an era in F1, dear old Luca, it started back when we were all so young,” said former International Automobile Federation (FIA) head and old sparring partner Max Mosley, who stepped down in 2009.
He added, “But in truth, Ferrari have never been quite the same since Jean [Todt] left. If they want to win races again, they need to find another outstanding manager.
“They need someone of Todt’s singular drive and focus now more than ever.”
The suave Montezemolo – who combined a passion for racing with an elegant manner and extensive contacts among the world’s social and political elite – might have been the embodiment of the Italian sportscar maker.
One of the big personalities who strode the stage as the sport was transformed into a billion-dollar global business from the 1970s onwards, taking over at Ferrari after Enzo’s death in 1988, he was also sounding increasingly at odds with the newer generation.
He had favoured a return to the old and expensive days of in-season testing, and had been a vocal critic of the new and much quieter V6 turbo hybrid engines favoured by volume manufacturers like Honda and Renault.
Executives from the automotive industry call the shots now, with Montezemolo’s job taken by Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne and former Ferrari North America president Marco Mattiacci as team principal.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 11th, 2014.
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