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The Daily Mirror published this article on 6 Jan 2002: David Beckham is in for a busy summer. After fulfilling one fantasy by leading England to the World Cup, he gets to indulge another - as a Ferrari test driver. Beckham, who took possession of a £120,000 Ferrari Modena 360 convertible at Christmas, will be handed the controls of Michael Schumacher's Formula One car for a day at the team's private test track in Fiorano, Italy.
As part of the same initiative, soccer-mad Schumacher is handed the chance to test his footballing skills at a specially arranged training session with Manchester United. The most ambitious swap deal in sport is the brainchild of Britain's largest company Vodafone, who sponsor Ferrari to the tune of £100m and United for £30m. The details have yet to be hammered out but a Vodafone source said: "David and Michael are two of the world's best known sports stars and it would be fantastic to give them a taste of each others careers
"Our sponsorship with Ferrari started on January 1 and while we are delighted with the presence we have on the car we are always looking to maximise marketing opportunities in an interesting way." The passion for Ferrari among the glitterati at United is long established. Only last year Roy Keane led a posse of United's Ferrari owners to a Formula One test in Jerez. Equally, Schumacher is well versed in the training methods of the world's greatest footballers, having trained with the Brazilian national team in Rio last March.
The Vodafone logos were given a first public outing when Ferrari ran its new livery during testing in Barcelona. Formula One gives Vodafone, Europe's largest company and the tenth biggest in the world, exposure to the largest global TV audience in sport. The scale of the Ferrari deal reflects the global stature of the Prancing Horse brand, which would be reinforced still further by having Beckham behind the wheel for a day. That said, the move will not be popular in all quarters and Vodafone have yet to get the idea past Beckham's bosses at United. Click here to return to the Ferrari Happenings page.
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