How Montezemolo and Enzo Ferrari met
35 years ago Italy mourned the passing of Enzo Ferrari, founder of the homonymous Scuderia and Car Manufacturer which represents one of the most illustrious Italian excellences. Luca Cordero di Montezemolo is also inextricably linked to Ferrari, who in the mid-1970s was sporting director of the Prancing Horse at the time of Niki Lauda’s successes. Montezemolo then became president of the Reds from 1991 to 2014, a time frame in which Michael Schumacher’s cycle of victories from 2000 to 2004 took shape.
But how did Montezemolo and Enzo Ferrari meet? Montezemolo told it in the columns of Rest of the Pug joined by Leo Turrini: “I know that many think of a recommendation from Agnelli. Instead it depended on a phone call I made to a Radio Rai program. It was 1972, Ferrari was doing badly in F1 and the Commendatore was subjected to criticism, even insulting. I was a young fan, I intervened live to defend him. He heard me, he called me and offered me the role of team principal, even though at the time he called himself sporting director. I was 25 years old and had zero experience. The man was like this, farsighted and courageous”.
The Jarier-Lauda sliding door
Montezemolo at the head of the Ferrari wall brought the Prancing Horse back to the top of the world in F1 with Niki Lauda in 1975. The Austrian, however, risked never getting to Maranello if it hadn’t been for the intercession of Clay Regazzoni: “In truth Enzo’s first choice for 1974 was a Frenchman, Jarier. But we had already hired Regazzoni and it was Clay who told us to focus on Niki, his partner at Brm ”added Montezemolo.
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