There were unusual guests yesterday at the Fiorano track: instead of the Prancing Horse cars, centre stage were the circus performers and animals, brought to Maranello to celebrate Christmas with all the Ferrari employees and their families. President Luca di Montezemolo and Team Principal of the Gestione Sportiva, Stefano Domenicali were also on hand to see three rather special Father Christmases, namely Felipe Massa, Luca Badoer and Marc Gene.
Its the first time Ive dressed up as Father Christmas, said Massa. Its nice to be here with so many children. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone peace, health and goodwill and for those of us who work for Ferrari, obviously, my wish is that we get back to our winning ways so that we can fight for the world championship.
This has been an unbelievable year for Massa, who has already had a great present in the birth of his son, Felipinho, but he asked Ferrari to also give him a present. In the next few days, the Brazilian will be back on a race track at the Mugello circuit to drive a Formula 1 car: but it wont be the F60, which he last drove at Valencia at the World Finals. Instead, he will drive an F2007, fitted with demonstration run tyres, with back-up from the Corse Clienti Department. The exact date for Felipe to do this has not yet been fixed, as the weather forecast for the Mugello area is very unsettled and it definitely will not happen today. I wanted to jump into a Formula 1 car before the end of the year, so I made the most of being in Maranello to do it, said Felipe. I would like to thank Ferrari for having giving me this present.
I want to thank each one of you for your support after the accident, said Massa at the Christmas party. What happened to me this year was unbelievable and I took so much strength from you to recover as quickly as possible. The heartfelt warmth I felt from Ferrari is something I will never ever forget as long as I live. I assure you that my determination to get back on track and to win has never been this strong!
Gestione Sportivas Christmas lunch was also the moment to make a presentation to someone who has been part of the Scuderia for the past fifteen years, Gilles Simon. The French engineer held the position of head of Engine Design from 1994 to 2006, after which he was in charge of the whole Engine Department. This period saw the Maranello V10 and V8 engines win six Drivers titles and eight Constructors, along with 106 Formula 1 Grand Prix victories. I wish to thank this engineer for all he has done, winning so much with us, a man of class and a good person, said Montezemolo as he presented Simon with an example of the 056 engine which took the Constructors title in the F2008.
It was also an opportunity for the Ferrari President, Luca di Montezemolo to look back over the past season.
This has been a very bad year, not up to Ferraris usual standard, were his opening words. There were several reasons, but we have a history and a culture of not looking for excuses. None of us is happy with the ways things went: we were hardly ever competitive enough to fight for the win and that is not our style. However, every one of us has the will and the ability to react and get back, not just to being very competitive, but also to winning. The symbol of our desire to fight back is really Felipe, who knew how to deal with a very difficult and dramatic situation and all of us can take that as our example next year. It has also been a bad year outside the sport, because we do not just live in our own little world. We had to make decisions, some of them painful, but we have continued to invest in the future of the company because we firmly believe that this time of crisis can be turned into an opportunity for growth. We have to look to the future with confidence, but without ever forgetting our roots, such as Enzo Ferrari himself, because we must always remember where we came from. I am happy to be here with you, because this is an important opportunity to talk to all of you and not just those who are under the spotlight, because what gives Ferrari its strength are the people and the pride they take in being part of this company, the pleasure they get from working here and the way they get upset when we dont win!
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2005_Formula_1_Monaco_Felipe_Massa_crashes.mp4by EroticAtom011,437 views
Ahahaha very cool! Love Felipe <3
Ferrarina94 2 years ago
Felipinho <3
He is my nr. 2 favourite to win the 2010 title.
YukiNekoPrincess 2 years ago
very nc!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NikosArapatzis 2 years ago
Haha cool :D:D
FeliMassaOwnz 2 years ago