He left on tiptoe. The racing world loses a very charismatic character, emblem of a motorsport that is no longer the same. Pietro Corradini died at the age of 77. Ferrari mechanic for three decades from the 70s: he worked with all the great drivers who made the history of the Prancing Horse in that period, but he was close to two in particular: Gilles Villeneuve and Gerhard Berger had also become friends.
How special was the bond that Pietro had established with Ayrton Senna: the Emilian from Formigine, in fact, had been the first to put the Brazilian champion in the cockpit of an F1. And few know that it was a Ferrari in preparation for the Brazilian GP which on Saturday would have won the front row with Carlos Reutemann. “Magic” was a boy who still enjoyed karting and hadn't even begun his climb into the elite of motor racing, but Corradini had made him sit in the cockpit of the red car and, perhaps, not even Ayrton could have known that it would be the first and the last one too.
Pietro had golden hands and knew how to make himself loved despite certain edges of his not too diplomatic character. He said what he thought, without filters. He loved racing and he loved racing: in his free time he was a protagonist in karting. He went fast and won races. After leaving Formula 1 he collaborated on important projects such as F40 and F50.
In recent years he was the technical coordinator of the Scuderia Belle Epoque, in Corlo di Formigine, an incubator of passion wanted by Monica Zanetti: it had become a bit like a second home where he could find those… redheads who had made his head spin and who he looked after with dedication and competence. The most pleasant surprise was seeing him at the cinema in a small part in the film “Ferrari”: a cameo of Pietro engaged in a refueling during the 1000 Miglia in 1957. He was a timeless man, who no longer has time. The clock stopped. Memories remain…
#Goodbye #Pietro #Corradini #mechanic #Ferrari #heart
