It is only when someone disappears that the summary of his works and the mark he leaves is composed. In the case of Mauro Forghieri it would take a whole library to describe what he has given to motoring. But it would be limiting, because his greatness consists precisely in what he has done beyond, at the level of human relationships. We were at lunch two Saturdays ago at Lello Apicella in Maranello, a meeting wanted by a dear friend of Forghieri, Gaetano Passarelli. A revival that was celebrated almost every year between people who had always been very close to Mauro. And, in fact, among these were the mechanics who had been part of the engineer’s golden moments (and not) at Ferrari. A marvelous communion of lives, of feelings, of magnetisms in which, by pure chance, Enzo Ferrari Mattioli, great-grandson of Enzo Ferrari, had suddenly entered, who had had a quick exchange of kind words with Forghieri. Mauro, returning to the table, had immediately evoked how Enzino’s was the third generation of Ferraris that spanned his existence, in an intertwining of families begun with his father Reclus, which the famous manufacturer had taken from Alfa Corse to make him part of the motoring adventure that would begin in 1940 and continue immediately after the war, in 1947, with the insignia of the prancing horse.
“Nobody knew the true story of Enzo Ferrari like my fatherHe had commented. Mauro had arrived in Maranello, fresh out of graduation, in 1959, and it was Ferrari himself who offered Reclus a job for his son, quick, alert and capable mechanical engineer, as it emerged in the summer internships he had done in the factory as a student. He could have been one of many technicians instead Enzo Ferrariwho knew more than anyone else to guess the potential of his employees, two years later he wanted him to the technical management of racing, when a group of senior managers had resigned as a whole due to disagreements with his wife Laura.
The great adventure of Forghieri in Ferrari began from there and thanks to a very close, almost filial relationship between boss and employee, successes and world titles arrived: twelve, the latter, obtained with cars of any type, with covered and uncovered wheels. . So much so that today Forghieri’s is the first name that comes to mind as soon as Ferrari is mentioned. An immense patrimony of motoring culture both in the motor and chassis and aerodynamic fields. Without forgetting what he did “after”, starting with the four-wheel drive Ferrari to go to the electric car – which no one talks about – which he built for Enel and which anticipated that of the automotive giants, even spanning two wheels, when he collaborated with Oral together with engineer Antoniazzi who came from Alfa Romeo experiences in F1.
Serious, meticulous, a maniac at work and then fun, mentally free, when he dealt with other things. Gifted with sensitivity in the things of life, educated and documented on everything, so much so that, as his friend Gaetano Passerelli said, “when you went with him to visit a museum, on the journey he had already described in detail the works of art you would see“. He was not embarrassed with anyone, he treated everyone equally, with class and cordiality. And, unlike today’s technicians, when there were the grand prix he was almost always at the table with the beloved mechanics. Exaggerated in his activism, to the point that once in Zandvoort, when Villeneuve broke the engine within hours of official rehearsal, he himself lent a hand to his men to lift the car and then began tinkering with wrenches to do more quickly. Of course he was adored. More: revered.
With Enzo Ferrari the relationship has always been excellent, but with punctual disputes: «He raised his voice, I raised it even more»Said Mauro smiling. When difficult times came and Fiat tried to remove him from racing, Ferrari protected him by creating a special testing department for him in the company. And then he called him back to his elective office, having passed the buriana. In reality, Ferrari and Forghieri were one copy of the other, when it came to racing: destined to converge inevitably, with the sole aim of beating the opponents. From Porsche to Ford, from Lotus to McLaren, to Williams. And if in recent times money has been circulating, in the 60s and 70s Ferrari competed everywhere (F1, Prototypes, F.2, Montagna Tasmania, Temporada Argentina) with very few men and with a tight budget. It was Forghieri’s mind, together with that of the many valid collaborators he had, that made the difference. Just the other week, at the table, one of his mechanics told of having gone from the 12 Hours of Sebring to a race in Tasmania (!), Returning to Europe five days later for an F1 grand prix: «An impossible life, but how could you say no to Forghieri?“.
The pilots, in the end, almost all loved him, even if Niki Lauda reproached him for hiding from the “big boss»The truth about the technical defaillances of the cars. But Niki himself also told that when al Fuji he abandoned the race under the flood because he was afraid, Forghieri was the first to take his side by proposing to tell the press that he had stopped for a breakdown, which Lauda just as honestly refused. His relationship with Surtees is an intricate mystery, his relationships with Scheckter, Villeneuve, Tambay, Alboreto and many others are delighted. A charismatic character, even if not always easy, who knew how to lead the team in compliance with the hierarchies. He wasn’t the type to overtake between desks and it paid off. But if he hadn’t been like that – great and often unarmed in his weaknesses – he wouldn’t have been Mauro Forghieri.
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