Ferrari achieves a well-deserved triumph at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the centennial edition. It marks the tenth victory in history for the Prancing Horse in the world’s most famous endurance race. They achieved this by beating the strong favorite Toyota, which had monopolized the last five editions of this prestigious event. If someone had told us this beforehand, we would never have believed it.
It is a truly historic success for many reasons, which, during the twenty-four hours of the sports event, showcased all the beauty and danger of this grueling race. Many memories resurface in this regard. How can we forget, for example, the great clash with the American giant Ford, which in the 1960s deployed all its industrial and economic strength to defeat the then “small” Ferrari.
Then came the long-awaited decision to withdraw from the World Endurance Championship, reluctantly made by Enzo. We are in 1973, and the historic Italian brand was not able to simultaneously manage prototype racing and Formula One. For this simple reason, the Drake decided to channel all his energy into the pinnacle of motorsport.
The victory of the Ferrari 499P, which began about a year ago with great humility through the construction of the Italian Hypercar by the team led by Antonello Coletta, should be considered as a “classic Ferrari story.” This aspect clearly showed us great group cohesion, which is necessary to achieve impressive results. Sadly, this has not been happening in Formula One for years. We discussed this in an article just yesterday, where among the various aspects discussed, we highlighted the “sporting life lesson” that AF Corse gave to the Maranello team, as explained by F1 expert Alessandro Arcari for FUnoanalisitecnica.
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Naturally, a big applause goes to the drivers, splendid interpreters of this car, who took turns behind the wheel of car number 51. Among them, two Italians stand out: former Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi and the experienced 39-year-old Alessandro Pier Guidi. Even car number 50, which brilliantly secured the pole position during Saturday’s qualifying, could have made its mark. Unfortunately, an unfortunate incident caused by debris relegated the other red car to fifth place overall.
Ferrari: Internal Frictions with FIAT
The success of Ferrari in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans can only make us reflect on the current scenario of the Italian team in Formula One. Enzo Ferrari always maintained that the racing team should have its own dynamics separate from the actual company. One of the problems in this regard concerns the internal frictions that currently arise within the Racing Department, which unfortunately, sadly, have been part of the history of the Prancing Horse for several decades now.
In the current landscape of Formula One, Ferrari is the only reality where the “sports division” is part of the company. This context has often “poisoned” the operational department, through suboptimal focus on achieving sporting results. During the years ’82/’83, faced with various internal frictions with FIAT, which incidentally paid the bills for sporting management and the industrial section, Ferrari considered the idea of “disconnecting” the Racing Department from the industrial company, returning to a more distant past, the 1930s, with the partnership between the Italian racing team and Alfa Romeo. However, the dream did not last long, as lawyer Agnelli denied this desire. Nevertheless, the idea has never been completely abandoned.
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