Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo may step down to pursue political career
There is increasing speculation in Italy that Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, one of the most influential figures in Formula One, may be considering his future at the team in anticipation of a run at political office.
With Silvio Berlusconi facing a vote of no confidence in his coalition government on Dec 14, potential successors to the 74 year-old lothario are being bandied about and the urbane Montezemolo is one of the names being mentioned.
Montezemolo, 63, hails from an aristocratic Piedmontese family and as the head of Ferrari for the last 19 years has been described as the closest thing to royalty that you will find in Italy.
In keeping with tradition Ferrari are hosting a pre-Christmas media lunch at their headquarters in Maranello on Dec 16, two days after the vote in parliament, where Montezemolo is expected to announce “adjustments” to the structure within the team. His own role may be on the menu.
Privately, Ferrari are playing down the speculation but Berlusconi clearly sees Montezemolo as a threat. Following the Scuderia’s self-inflicted failure to secure the world drivers’ championship in Abu Dhabi last month one of Berlusconi’s key allies, minister Roberto Calderoli of the far-right Northern League, called for Montezemolo to resign in shame.
Montezemolo responded with a withering put-down. “When the statesman Calderoli will achieve in his life one per cent of what Ferrari has done for this country in terms of industry and sports, then he’ll deserve an answer,” he said.
It was seen as political points-scoring and Montezemolo was at it again last week, saying of Berlusconi’s embattled government that “the one-man show is over”. "I feel obliged to do something for the country to which I belong, it's time to get off the fence,” he said.
With government ministers walking on regular basis, Italy’s economy stuck in the doldrums, the public debt burden at 120 per cent of GDP and the prime minister's approval ratings having slumped to 35 per cent in the wake of ever more lurid sex scandals, the call for fresh leadership is growing and Montezemolo fits the bill perfectly.
Formerly Enzo Ferrari’s assistant and then manager of the Scuderia in the 1970s, Montezemolo rose through the ranks of FIAT in the 1980s organising, amongst other things, the 1990 football World Cup in Italy before being appointed president of a then struggling Ferrari by FIAT chairman Gianni Agnelli in 1991.
Montezemolo proceeded to oversee a stunning revitalisation of the Prancing Horse, completely turning around the road car division, making a profit for the first time in years and bringing key players in to the F1 team such as Jean Todt and Ross Brawn. Ferrari went on to dominate the sport around the turn of the century. Montezemolo’s influence within the sport has risen commensurately.
Having founded the Formula One Teams’ Association in 2008 in an effort to give teams a united voice, he was widely credited as the man who saw off former FIA president Max Mosley last summer when the governing body and FOTA came to blows over the proposed introduction of a budget cap. Mosley retired and Ferrari got their way.
Although he has always denied having political ambitions, Montezemolo last year created an association called Italia Futura, aimed at getting young Italians engaged in politics. Earlier this year he stood down as chairman of FIAT, a move many interpreted as paving the way for a career in politics. The effect his potential departure might have on Ferrari and Formula One remains to be seen.
