Madonna di Campiglio, 11 January – It is now a tradition and Luca di Montezemolo could not pass up the opportunity, even this year, to visit Wrooom, the event that for the past 22 years has kick started the Prancing Horse’s race season.

“This is always a very nice event and I want to congratulate the organisers and the truly stupendous location,” said the Ferrari President, addressing the journalists in the Madonna di Campiglio Conference Centre. “I wish you all a happy new year: the only thing I ask is to have a competitive car, that’s all. We have brought in some new blood to the team, but always with a dynamic evolution of the organization in mind, without it being a revolution, as indeed we have done several times before in the twenty years of my presidency. We have done it because we did not want to pay too high a cost for being isolated, we here in Italy, compared to the bulk of the world of Formula 1, a sport in which the vast majority of teams is based in England. Once in a while, this applies to any company, not just those in Formula 1, as it is worth while allowing a bit of fresh air in, with an injection of a new mentality and culture, strengthening areas in which we have the greatest need to increase our levels of competence. Sure, Domenicali will have to resign himself to being replaced by a Chinese person: we are bringing him on within the company…”

Montezemolo’s joke was met with laughter all round, but immediately made way for more immediate matters, with a question about Ferrari’s departure from FOTA: “I think that as in life, there are moments in which one gets on well with others and times when one feels a need for change,” replied the President. “We wish to continue playing our part in Formula 1 in a constructive manner, looking to the future of this sport which is still fantastic and part of our life. I refer, for example, to technology, to the need to reach out to a younger audience, to the need to maintain close links between racing and the manufacture of road-going cars, to young drivers and the need to give them the opportunity, through testing, to show their potential. Without wishing to cause any upsets, I think Ferrari has the right, thanks to its history, to have its say in an autonomous fashion, on the future of this sport.”