Silvio Berlusconi is dead At the age of 86. Il Cavaliere died at the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan due to an illness that had afflicted him for some time, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. Thus at least 40 years pass A highly centralized figure in Italian history who, even before entering politics, He used his media and sport as a stepping stone To be talked about and to confirm its presence in the Italian cultural scene.
criticism of enzo ferrari
A pattern that even Ferrari could not escape. It was 1986, Cavallino was in trouble and Berlusconi took the ball, inviting 88-year-old Drake to step aside. And the answer was not long in coming, as we reported in the Autosprint Platinum Face to Face with Drake published in 2019. Here is an excerpt from that story, which appeared in Autosprint issue 40, dated 30 September 1986 and signed by Daniel Bajanetti
The story told on Autosprint
A less than exciting season for Ferrari has inevitably involved a series of questions and queries; A one-of-a-kind search for truth about a House for which judgments and comments are wasted on a daily basis. But between newly appointed drivers and technicians and others who were contacted and never arrived, or were fired, Ferrari in particular has been in the eye of the storm for months. At 11am on Wednesday 24 September, the entire national press and a large part of the foreign press were crowded into the racing department’s small meeting room, next to the Ferrari engineer’s office. The latter faced a barrage of questions with the indecisiveness and sharpness of his best moments, sometimes reasoned and sometimes ironic, always sharp in his answers. “I’m here, waiting for the first question,” attacked Ferrari, who, immediately afterwards, good-naturedly teased some colleagues who had exposed themselves. But it didn’t take long to wait for the first real question: what novelties would Ferrari include in 1987? “The first news – Ferrari replied – is this: I received on 12 September in Maranello the engineer John Barnard who will assume the role of technical director of Ferrari’s sporting management from 1 November”. Another obvious curiosity concerns the pilots: «On August 4 we had a preliminary understanding with Berger; Today we can also confirm that his commitment to BMW has had a happy ending». There was no shortage of awkward questions surrounding Barnard’s position and job as technical director. The answer was very quick: “It just means that he is not an administrator!”. But at the time huge questions were looming, regarding his strange relationship with Mansell and Maranello. “We never looked for Mansell; Twice we were solicited by him. I met Mansell on July 9th in Maranello and he signed a regular contract which is here and which specifies everything, even the number of “passes” requested for each GP (there are 4, versions). His subsequent behavior has taken us by surprise and our lawyers will take appropriate follow-up action. It doesn’t change the high regard we have for the pilot but it shows us what kind of person we’ll be dealing with. We chatted with him as he confirmed to us that he has no commitments for a future with his friend Williams, to whom we reiterate our best wishes.” But then we return to Barnard and the degrees of freedom that govern his work. Will: «Bernard will alternate his presence where he considers it most useful».
From Fiat to the TV entrepreneur Berlusconi who invited you to split during the recent crisis in F.1, what’s your reaction?
«I am not interested in cinema or television. I am not interested in any channel. When I started this business in 1919, when I founded Scuderia Ferrari in 1929, I didn’t ask Mr. Berlusconi. I don’t see why I should listen to her today, nor do I dare to ask her how the meeting is going. If Berlusconi wants to take the place of the Almighty, don’t worry, I have a lot of respect for him and what he does and I must conclude, if he said that about me, without knowing me, that he knew something about me. Don’t know how to do This is a matter to be understood. There are two people here: Piero Lardi Ferrari, who is my son, and Signor Piccini. Signor Piero will have to take my place the day I leave; Mr. Piccini, even if it depended on me, would not leave Ferrari, because I know what he did and what he is doing. The fact that he’s the sporting director, that he’s a director – as he is, being on the board of directors at Ferrari – that he’s someone I have complete trust in, it’s an old thing, so I Sorry if anyone doesn’t digest this for my perfectionism, I’m fine with that. He is not good for you, because he does not do what you ask him».