The Ferrari name always had a special aura and something magical about it, although I cannot explain why. I recall that when I was running Peugeot Motorsport, I decided to write a book about the Lion marqueis successes with the 205. There was only one person I wanted to write the foreword, Enzo Ferrari. Luckily my wish came true. It was in 1985 that I found myselfin Maranello to meet the Commendatore. We lunched together in the Fiorano office, along with his son Piero, France Gozzi and Marco Piccinini. Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine that, one day, I would be in charge of the Scuderia!
Ever since I was a small bey I had a passion for cars and for motor sport. Naturally, Ferrari was uppermost n my mind. When I was twenty-six, I acquired my first Ferrari, paying eight hundred dollars for a 250 California Spider. Shortly afterwards, having spent three thousand dollars restoring it, I was able to buy my first apartment with the proceeds from selling it. The Ferrari name always had a special aura and something magical about it, although I cannot explain why. I recall that when I was running Peugeot Motorsport, I decided to write a book about the Lion marqueis successes with the 205. There was only one person I wanted to write the foreword, Enzo Ferrari. Luckily my wish came true. It was in 1985 that I found myselfin Maranello to meet the Commendatore. We lunched together in the Fiorano office, along with his son Piero, France Gozzi and Marco Piccinini. Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine that, one day, I would be in charge of the Scuderia!
My first contact with President Montezemolo dates back to 1992. Bernie Ecclestone told me that Montezemolo was expecting my call and in August of that year, we met for the first time, in Bologna. There were further meetings until we reached an agreement and, on 1st July 1993, I took control of the Gestione Sportiva. We had both been pretty brave: the president for having offered me such an opportunity and I for having accepted at a time that was far from easy. It was the biggest challenge I could have dreamed of, even if many people told me I should not have taken it on. For example, Alain Prost confided in me that l would never turn Ferrari around. If he told me that, having spent around two years at Maranello, then there was cause for concern. From 1994 to 1999, I often thought that Prost and the others had been right.
In the end, we managed to create a very strong team, thanks to the never ending support of President Montezemolo, who never gave in to the pressure which urged him to change. He always believed in the path we had chosen. This led to our success and a dream team with a driver like Michael Schumacher, who is not only possibly the greatest driver of all time, but also a good friend. In 1999, we took the Constructorsi title, followed by a trio of both championships. Michael managed to equal Fangiois all-time record of title wins and Ferrari has won four consecutive championships, something it had never done before.
Since the day I took on this task with Ferrari, the Scuderia has won over fifty Grands Prix.When things were going badly, we still remained united and that made us stronger.We continue to work in the same way, keeping our feet firmly on the ground, even now when everything is going well. We have not forgotten the difficult times - the years in which we lost the title at the final round and Michaelis accident at Silverstone, for which he has never blamed the team. We want to continue winning. When I leave, I will be able to say I played a part in a third of Ferrariis victories and have contributed to writing an important chapter in the story of a team which is and will always be a motoring legend.
Jean Todt:Vorwort·Foreword
Rainer W.Schlegelmilch:Vorwort·Foreword
Portraits
Helmets
Technology
Design
Team
Statistics
Coupe des Constructeurs
Abkurzungen·Abbreviations