Ferrari: The Passion and the Pain
The inside story of Ferrari’s 1998 Formula 1 season and the team’s battle with McLaren for the World Championship. The Ferrari drivers and key team members reflect on a season of drama, excitement and no little controversy.What were the factors behind the improved performance of the team this season? Who were the characters behind the scenes backing up the brilliant driving of Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine? What were the pivotal moments in Ferrari’s head-to-head duel with McLaren throughout the season?Ferrari tells the story from the inside, in the eyes of the team. It features interviews with the drivers and all the key Ferrari personnel, including Jean Todt, Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne – plus an exclusive team view of the Schumacher controversy at Spa involving David Coulthard – along with all the race action from the season.The book also looks back to the signing of Schumacher at the start of the 1996 season and follows the team’s fluctuating fortunes through to the dramatic climax of 1997 at Jerez. With its penetrating insight into the inner sanctum of Ferrari, this fascinating expose is a must for all Ferrari fans.
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First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 1997
© Jane Nottage 1998
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Jane Nottage asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
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Source ISBN: 9780002188876
Ebook Edition © OCTOBER 2014 ISBN: 9780008119287
Version: 2014-10-24
This book is dedicated to Paul Wiget, with thanks for four wonderful years and with much love for a very happy future for him and his four lovely children, Phil, Isobel, Kevin and Anna, and Phil’s beautiful girlfriend Anette.
Contents
1996 SEASON
Chapter One THE LEGEND LIVES ON
Chapter Two ON A WING AND A PRAYER
Chapter Three THE SUMMER OF DISCONTENT
Chapter Four THE ROAD TO VICTORY
1997 SEASON
Chapter Nine SEPTEMBER DOLDRUMS
Chapter Ten IN THE DEEP MIDWINTER
1998 SEASON
Chapter Eleven THE 1998 SEASON BEGINS
Chapter Twelve A WINNING COMBINATION
Chapter Thirteen MID-SEASON BLUES
Chapter Fourteen AN UPTURN IN FORTUNES
Winning one World Championship with Ferrari is a special feeling. Winning two is simply unforgettable. Enzo Ferrari, like his cars, came out of a unique mould. He was sometimes difficult and intransigent, but above all he was the driving force behind one of the greatest racing teams of all time. We had some memorable run-ins during my four years at Ferrari, but my respect for this giant of motor racing and what he accomplished eclipses all else. Having later started my own company, Lauda Air, I understand the effort required to build up and maintain a successful business.
There are many good memories from my time as a Ferrari driver, but one or two are outstanding, such as the first time I won a Grand Prix with Ferrari. It happened at Jarama (in Spain) in 1974 and after this I understood what it was like to feel the warmth of the passionate tifosi, who were overjoyed.
Winning my first Formula One Drivers’ Championship with Ferrari was one of the highlights of my life. When it actually happened everything seemed to go by in a flash – the celebrations, the victory dinner, meeting the fans. But at the end I was left with an intense feeling of happiness, which I will never forget.
I was fortunate enough to have Luca di Montezemolo as my team manager when I won that title in 1975. As well as a being colleague, Luca became a friend and when he returned to Ferrari in 1992 as chairman, I became a consultant to help rebuild the fortunes of the team.
Luca is a brilliant strategist and visionary. He recognized the need to employ the right people in the right places, and over the last six years he has done just that. The result is that the Ferrari Formula One team has been able to show in the last two years particularly that it is once again a serious contender for the Formula One World Constructors’ Championship.
That kind of action takes courage and perseverance, particularly in a company like Ferrari, which is quintessentially Italian in its approach and its methods. Politics and intrigue have always played a part in the management, and it isn’t easy to cut through that and prepare the company for the future. To that end Luca has done a brilliant job, as have all the members of the team – especially Team Director Jean Todt and Michael Schumacher, who is the best racing driver of his generation, and the talented and competitive Eddie Irvine.
Above all, one must never forget that Ferrari is a team made up of different nationalities and personalities, and each and every one of them plays an important role. A racing team works under constant pressure, so the most junior mechanic is as important as the most senior manager in that they must all execute their jobs efficiently and quickly.
This book is unique in that it offers the reader a glimpse of what life is really like working for one of the most glamorous and enigmatic teams in Grand Prix motor racing; and, for the very first time, the sweat and toil and the passion and the pain of being part of Ferrari can be observed at close quarters.
