Ferrari and Monza celebrated their 90th anniversaries in style on yesterday, September 4th, with a great event in Piazza Duomo in Milan attended by world champions, team members, and managers of all times, including prospect ones like Michael Schumacher’s son Mick. During the celebration, it was announced to the fans flooding the square that Formula One signed a deal securing the Italian Grand Prix until at least 2024.
Mechanics, some of them hired by the team’s late founder Enzo Ferrari himself, recalled the glory days of old. Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen, still the last Ferrari world champion after taking the title in 2007 and now racing for Ferrari-powered Alfa Romeo, received a huge roar of recognition as he stepped out. Former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, who presided over the golden eras with the late Niki Lauda in the 1970s and Schumacher in the early 2000s, saluted the ever passionate supporters and threw caps into the crowd. Fans unfurled a huge Ferrari flag in front of the majestic Gothic cathedral as drivers appeared on stage next to racing cars spanning generations.
The massive party was as much a celebration of all things Ferrari as an enduring testament to Monza’s historic role as the ‘Pista Magica’, the temple of Italian motorsport. Indeed, Italy will continue to be, together with the UK, one of the only two countries to have hosted races in every year since the world championship started in 1950. In 2020, the race on the Italian track is scheduled for the 6th of September in a richer than ever calendar of 22 races.
Formula One chairman Chase Carey commented: “Monza’s one of our defining races, our iconic races,” adding that “the Italian fans are second to none, all you have to do is look at that crowd. It’s a great part of the sport and we couldn’t be more excited to have this race in place for the next five years.”
Cover ph: Peter Fischer from Pixabay