In the history of Formula 1 there are frames that remain sculpted more than many others, and among these there is undoubtedly the white-blue livery of the world champion Brabham with Nelson Piquet in 1981 and 1983.
Nelson Piquet, Brabham BT49C-Ford Cosworth world champion in 1981
Photo by: Motorsport Images
On the sides of the single-seater and on the Brazilian driver’s suit, the main sponsor was an Italian company, Parmalat, founded by Calisto Tanzi, who died today at the age of 83. Originally from Collecchio, in the province of Parma, Tanzi already in the 70s had grasped the promotional value of some sports disciplines, and he decided in the first person to engage in Formula 1. Alongside the tobacco multinationals, a company that sold milk appeared. and derivatives, a bet, which however proved Tanzi right.
Niki Lauda in the Parmalt sponsored suit in 1976 with James Hunt
Photo by: Sutton Images
After Ferrari’s return to success in the 1975 world championship, with the rising star Niki Lauda, Formula 1 acquired great popularity in Italy and beyond, and Parmalat’s entry into Formula 1 took place precisely on the Austrian champion’s suit, starting since 1976, complete with the message ‘champion’s milk’, the milk of champions.
Niki Lauda, Brabham BT46 Alfa Romeo in 1978
Photo by: David Phipps
The television exposure, in many ways magnified also by the drama experienced by Lauda during the Nurburgring weekend, generated great interest, and the partnership continued in 1977, the season in which the Austrian’s second world title arrived but also a shocking news. : Lauda decided to terminate his collaboration with Ferrari and the following season moved to Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham.
Parmalat played an active role in this sensational transfer, as it became the main sponsor of Brabham (a role impossible to obtain in Ferrari) with a large logo on the sides of the single-seaters. The divorce of the decade, which greatly opposed Enzo Ferrari himself, also materialized for the role of a company a few kilometers away from the headquarters in Maranello.
John Watson and Niki Lauda, at Brabham in 1978
Photo by: Motorsport Images
The sporting results of the Lauda-Brabham tandem in the first two years, however, did not live up to expectations, and Niki himself decided in mid-1979 to leave Formula 1, while maintaining a sponsorship contract for what will become his famous hat signed Parmalat. .
Tanzi remained tied to Brabham and Ecclestone, a trust repaid with a period of great successes marked by the Brazilian Nelson Piquet, 1981 and 1983 world champion.
Ron Dennis announces the retirement of Niki Lauda at the end of the 1984 season
Photo by: Motorsport Images
In addition, in 1982, Lauda had also returned to racing, and in negotiating the agreement with McLaren (his new team) he imposed the presence of his cap with the inscription of the Collecchio company. For Niki came the title-trio in 1984 and the final farewell at the end of the following season, which closed the adventure wanted by Tanzi in the world of motors.
Pedro Diniz, Forti Corse
Photo by: Motorsport Images
The Parmalat name would then return to Formula 1 in 1995, but not as a result of the group strategy decided by Tanzi, but because of a personal initiative of the Brazilian driver Pedro Diniz, a commercial agreement between the Brazilian branch of Parmalat and the Brazilian supermarket chain Pao de Azucar, owned by the Diniz family. Once this project was also completed, the logo of the Italian company occasionally appeared again in the paddock on the head of the loyal Lauda, who remained a testimonial with his cap until 2002.
His exit from the world of motorsport coincided with a period in which Tanzi decided to expand into the food sector, diversifying his investments. This was followed by the listing on the stock exchange, many acquisitions, and the entry into the securities market which was the antechamber of the crash.
The legal proceedings that followed the bankruptcy defined Parmalat as the largest debt factory in the history of European capitalism, accumulating a 14.5 billion euro deficit that destroyed the savings of tens of thousands of savers. Tanzi was in house detention after a sentence of 17 years and 5 months.
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