Montezemolo Has a Lot to Say About Ferrari

Luca di Montezemolo, the ex-president of Ferrari, has spoken of his sadness at his successor's seeming resentment of the Formula One team's past triumphs. He feels Sergio Marchionne is envious of the team's former glories, and Montezemolo feels sorry for the current president.

Di Montezemolo spent 23 years as the president for Ferrari, and, as punters who enjoy the F1 online betting so widely available will recall, he quit in 2014 thanks to rising tensions with Marchionne. The latter was, and is now, the boss of Fiat/Chrysler, the parent company for Ferrari. Marchionne then assumed the role of president just before Sebastian Vettel's move from Red Bull racing was confirmed.

Still No Title for Ferrari

Marchionne and Vettel have unfortunately not been able to end the title-less run Ferrari is in the grips of.

It stretches back to 2008, for success at the Constructors' and 2007, for a Drivers' Championship Win with Kimi Räikkönen. Montezemolo weighed in at the launch of a new Michael Schumacher exhibition in Germany, saying that he was sorry that Marchionne had the negative feelings he so obviously harbours.

Rather rubbing salt in the wind, Montezemolo spoke of his pride in what the team had managed to do while he was in charge. He added that he hoped Ferrari would once more get into a condition that saw it winning, since he knew how important the Formula One was for the manufacturer.

Di Montezemolo was at the event, which took place in Cologne, to give his support to the new display, which is spotlighting important elements from Schumacher's own private collection. He said that, in fact, it was the seven-time champion himself who initially turned Ferrari on to Vettel, and urged them to evaluate the driver.

Vettel Had Schumacher's Blessing

Di Montezemolo said that Schumacher was a big Vettel supporter before he started driving for Ferrari, and reminded everyone that it was actually he, di Montezemolo, who signed the deal with the 30-year old driver, before adding that Schumacher had been glad about it. He said that the racing legend had spoken to him a few years before, saying that he felt that Vettel was a good fit for Ferrari.

Maybe This Will be Vettel's Year?

Vettel's recent victory in the Canadian Grand Prix which took place recently was his 50th in Formula One, and his 11th with Ferrari. He is now ahead of Lewis Hamilton, of Mercedes, by 1 point in the Drivers' Championship 2018.

Di Montezemolo mentioned Schumacher's many Championship wins, and said that he hoped that, although Vettel had not done so yet, he would begin a new era. He spoke of Vettel's position being a very difficult one, since he was trying to fill Michael Schumacher's shoes, but said that Vettel is young and strong and a good driver, and he had a competitive car this year.

Di Montezemolo ended off by saying that he hoped there was not undue pressure being put on Vettel, and mentioned that Mercedes did not seem to be an overly difficult challenge this year. He said there would be lots of chances for Vettel to take advantage of, and wondered if this would be a good year for Ferrari, finally.