Mugello, 6 November

Ferrari’s day of celebration could not wipe out the memory of two events that had a profound effect on the atmosphere within the Prancing Horse world: the death of Marco Simoncelli and the tragic events that have struck Genoa in recent days.

“I well remember when, back in July, I was here for the Saturday of the Italian MotoGP and I spoke about Marco with you journalists,” recalled Montezemolo. “I compared him to Gilles Villeneuve because of his temperament, his generosity and courage, both as a man and a rider. I am pleased to talk about him today at this place where he was so often in the thick of it. He was an amazing guy, a real Romagnol and very talented. Once again, my thoughts are with his family, who reacted in exemplary fashion to this tragedy and they deserve respect and praise for their demeanour.”

On the floods that hit Genoa, the President had this to say: “ All my thoughts and those of everyone at Ferrari are with those who lost their lives in Genoa in a tragedy that seems incredible, but show once again how scant is the respect that we usually have in our country when it comes to taking action to prepare for events like this. We need to invest in the land which is maybe the most important thing that we have in Italy, as well as its people. It is the beauty of nature, but we need to invest in prevention. I say it not seeking to make a political point, but in a constructive way, so that everyone plays their part in avoiding this sort of tragedy.”