Piero Ferrari, son of Enzo (the founder of the Maranello company), was recently interviewed by Italian daily newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. On the day in which the name of the 2022 car was officially announced, the vice-president of Ferrari focused on the way in which his father chose the various acronyms of the single-seaters, and also talked about the new Formula 1 regulations. Below are some of his comments.
Here is what Piero Ferrari said for La Gazzetta dello Sport
On how Enzo Ferrari chose the abbreviations of the cars
“Simple, reference was made to the displacement and the number of cylinders. For example, in the 1960s, with engines of 1500 cm3 the abbreviations were 156 or 158 depending on whether they had six or eight cylinders. It was the engine that dictated the law, the same happened for road cars with the famous series of 250 which represented the unit displacement of our 12 cylinders of 3 liters. Sometimes next to the unit displacement there was also a letter: B which stood for boxer, T for transverse gearbox, in the it was turbo the C for the compressor and K for the turbo KKK. Maybe it will be because of the age but as far as Formula 1 is concerned I would always put the year next to the acronym in order to remind us when he raced. Did my father use to do any special announcements for this? No, my father made a mini brochure – a yellow sheet – which contained the characteristics of the car and at the time of printing he decided on the name. A very simple thing”.
On Enzo Ferrari’s custom of not celebrating dates
“He only celebrate Ferrari’s 40th anniversary with the F40? Exactly, in racing there have been rare exceptions linked to victories, such as the 250 Le Mans which combined the celebration of previous successes with the 24 Hours and the fact that that car was destined to compete in that race”.
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On the new Formula 1 regulations
“To friends who ask me to explain to them what has changed in the regulation, I say that it is like at MasterChef: they gave us the ingredients and then there is someone who cooks a very good dish and someone else less so. This is to explain the complexity of the regulation which has not been modified but rewritten. I read it but I really struggled to understand it”.
On the F1-75
“I saw the model in the gallery. What struck me? Let’s wait for February 17…”.
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