Comments on: Has Ferrari stopped Italy producing world champion drivers?

By: James Steventon

James Steventon — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 19:25:19 +0000

Wow, I didn’t know that America had produced the most F1 drivers! 156 and only two world champions.
The top teams, of which Ferrari is one, are naturally going to pick the best drivers available, regardless of the nationality.
It is nice when a situation arises where say, a British driver can race with a British team, like in Hamilton’s case, however, one must be practical.
If there was an Italian driver out there that the Scuderia thought was worth trying, then you would have an Italian in a Ferrari. I guess, if Ferrari were feeling really patroatic, they could start a course simular to Red Bull in order to bring along and nurture young talent, choosing only Italian drivers.
Then again, it often makes good sense just to hire a Kimi Raikkonen every so often, to give your team the best chance for success.

By: oliver

oliver — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:51:47 +0000

Ferrari is not a local brand anymore.

By: Vertigo

Vertigo — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:42:17 +0000

Journeyer is right, why should Ferrari use a rubbish Italian instead of a good driver born elsewhere? It’s been proven that hiring a driver because of his nationality is a stupid idea (Sato at Honda, and probably Nakajima at Williams this year). As a Ferrari fan I’d rather see Massa in the second car rather than Liuzzi or Badoer.Yes, Ferrari should have a youth program, but instead of shooting his mouth off, perhaps Giancarlo Minardi should establish his own Italian F1 youth project. He’s not in F1 any more so he’s got the time on his hands, surely.

By: Journeyer

Journeyer — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:18:32 +0000

Odd, Ogami. The more publicized reason why they don’t hire Italians is that they’re too… fiery, too emotional. At least that’s what Enzo Ferrari thought. And think about it, the last fully Italian driver to win a GP in a Ferrari was Alboreto in 1985 (Alesi was part-Italian and won in 1995). A variation on that was that Enzo did not want to see an Italian die in the wheel of one of his Ferraris.

Well, nowadays, they hire based on driver talent. Some say they had a contract with Liuzzi before he entered F1, but was quietly dropped when he didn’t prove to be quick enough.

By: Ogami

Ogami — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:56:29 +0000

IRCC, ferrari has a rule of non hiring italian drivers because of pressure from tifosi. I don’t know how true this is…just read that on some forums.

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:27:32 +0000

Good Heavens no Rohan! There is nothing wrong with the idea of supporting a team rather then a driver. But my point is…
Britain appears to follow Lewis, Jenson, DC first, and McLaren and Williams second.
So rather then the corporate dollar following British teams, they go to British drivers. Whereas in Itay, the dollars go to Ferrari.

By: Gary Shavit

Gary Shavit — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:43:39 +0000

That is why the possible move of Valentino Rossi from MotoGP got so much attention. A few years as a student to Schumacher would have put him in a good position to be the next Italian champion.

By: Rohan

Rohan — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:06:01 +0000

Mark, you make it seem as though supporting a team instead of a driver is a bad thing, even though that’s what I’d suggest the majority of those who follow F1 do (as opposed to those who watch F1 casually)

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:50:53 +0000

Would Italy be the only country that supports a team over drivers?

Maybe that is why corporate support doesn’t go to the young drivers?

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:59:35 +0000

GCM is *always* right!

(I say this from the unbiased perspective of one who has ‘Forza Minardi’ tattooed on his heart…)