The Story Of Success Part 2. Todt, Brawn and Schumacher: The Modern Glory Years

Late November, 1991, Maranello. An old friend walks through some familiar corridors.

Luca Di Montezemolo returns to the headquarters of the most famous of famous car companies.

Ferrari.

Montezemolo, born in 1947, went to Columbia University, New York, after getting a degree in law, to study international trade law, before returning to Italy.

He briefly raced for Lancia rally, HF Squadra Corse, and once he had finished his education, he joined Fiat.

Soon after his placement at Fiat, he was sent to Ferrari and installed as the head of the Gestione Sportiva. The racing department.

He ran the team successfully, securing the drivers World Championship in 1975 and 1977 with Nikki Lauda, and he was widely regarded as Enzo Ferrari’s right hand man.

He was then promoted out of Ferrari, to become head of all Fiat motorsport, before moving up to senior management.

In 1985, he became head of the committee that planned and put on the 1990 Olympics.

With Enzo Ferrari having died in 1988, Ferrari had been struggling without strong leadership for 3 years. Montezemolo’s previous role as his right hand man, made him the obvious successor to “Il Commandatore”.

Ferrari had a big problem with the quality of the road cars, and this lack of sales led to a decline in F1 spending.

Montezemolo had experienced the questionable quality at first hand. He was once quoted in an Italian magazine, soon after becoming president:

“I decided to buy myself a new Ferrari as a present to myself after the Olympics, for a job well done. I bought a 348 spider, in yellow.

I couldn’t believe how stiff the gear change was, the lack of room, and the evidence of poor workmanship.I took the car back to the factory, walked right up to the front desk and explained my problems.”

“ The engineer listened carefully before saying “this is how Ferrari’s are supposed to be.”

“ I told him; Don’t tell me how Ferrari’s should be! I am a Ferrari customer! I know how Ferrari’s are supposed to be!”

His first plan as president of Ferrari was to improve the quality of the cars, in every way.

Once the road car division was established, Montezemolo turned his hand to the Gestione Sportiva, and in 1993 installed French ace rally star and former Peugeot Rally team principle, Jean Todt, as the team principle of the Suderia Ferrari team.

Todt had won everything there was in rallying as a co-driver and team principle. He also had experience running teams and winning in Le Mans and World Sportscar Championship.

In February 1995, when pressed by a journalist at the launch of the 412 T2 F1 car, Montezemolo revealed that the sponsors of the team only provided 55 percent of the Formula One budget. The factory had to come up with the rest.

Todt began restructuring the team, that was often just a disorganised bunch vagrants rather than a well oiled machine, and in 1996 secured the services of the double World Champion Benneton driver, Michael Schumacher, who brought with him English technical wizard Ross Brawn, and South African designer Rory Byrne.

For the first time in 17 years, Ferrari had the No.1 on the front of the car, but it was inherited, not earned.

The Tifosi were extremely unhappy with the recruitment of the German driver that kept the championship away from the rossocars, but Todt, backed by Montezemolo, stood his ground over his choice of drivers.

I couldn’t believe how stiff the gear change was, the lack of room, and the evidence of poor workmanship.

I took the car back to the factory, walked right up to the front desk and explained my problems.”

“ The engineer listened carefully before saying “this is how Ferrari’s are supposed to be.”

“ I told him; Don’t tell me how Ferrari’s should be! I am a Ferrari customer! I know how Ferrari’s are supposed to be!”

The rejuvenation of the team was beginning to take shape, and began to show signs of bearing fruit in the 1997 season.

Schumacher’s championship hopes had gone down to the wire against Canadian Williams driver Jacques Villeneuve.

The final race of the season was once again the stage for an amazing race.

Schumacher, resorted to desperation and attempted to put his rival out by crashing in to him. This unfortunately led to Schumacher crashing out himself, and an investigation being launched into the fact that Schumacher had done a similar thing in 1994, his first championship.

The stewards decided against him, and he was disqualified from the 1997 Drivers Championship.

By 1998, Ross Brawn had become a force to be reckoned with, and his technical mind was the envy of the pit lane.

He had succeeded in guiding Schumacher to two world championships already, and knew the responsibility he carried as the technical director of the Ferrari Team.

The Championship was won in the last race by Mikka Hakkinen, the Mclaren driver.

But Schumacher had already proved himself in the team, and was helping to construct a perfect team.

He knew the names of all the team mechanics, and often asked them about their families.

He was strictly on time during testing and even had a room in Enzo Ferrari’s old house, at the Fiorano test track, so that he could stay at the track.

The work that Todt organised restructured the team into a professional organisation.

Montezemolo’s dream of bringing the Drivers Championship back to Maranello was getting closer as every race passed. He was eager to please his patriarchal boss, Giovanni Angelli, President of Fiat.

1999 was a setback. After a great start to the season, Schumacher turned in to Stowe corner at Silverstone, and ploughed straight into the tyre wall. He had crashed due to a brake failure and broken his leg. The injury kept Schumacher out for most of the season, and Ferrari hired Finnish driver Mika Salo to fill in.

During his absence, Ferrari’s second driver, Irishman Eddie Irvine, took it upon himself to lead Ferrari’s title hopes.

When Schumacher returned, he went straight back to his winning ways, leading a Ferrari one-two.

At the final race of the season, in Japan, Schumacher displayed his team spirit by letting Irvine past in order to score the most points. Alas, it wasn’t enough and Hakkinen took his second world championship.

The pieces all came together in 2000.

Rory Byrne had produced a radical evolution of the ‘99 car, with Paolo Martinelli providing a brand new V10 engine, and Luca Baldisseri, Schumacher’s race mechanic, providing the support during the races.

Schumacher fought hard throughout a season filled with victory and remorse. After winning five out of the first eight races, he suffered three successive retirements, two at the first corner of the races.

Early, on the morning of the October 8^th 2000, a phone rang in Turin.

The voice on the other end simply said “its done”.

It was Luca Di Montezemolo reporting the results of the race at Suzuka, Japan, to Giovanni Angelli

Michael Schumacher had clinched the drivers world championship, the first Ferrari driver to win the world championship since 1979, with South African driver Jody Scheckter.

 

Montezemolo, with the help of Todt, Brawn and their star driver, had brought the crown back to Maranello.

 

The celebrations were immense, and although nothing had been planned before the race, out of superstition, bottles of champagne arrived from everywhere in the pit lane.

 

It would be 2006 before someone other than Schumacher won the drivers championship, and a team other than Ferrari won the constructors.