Bertolini: “Ten titles with Ferrari, a dream come true”

Sporting results, adrenaline on the track and multicoloured thrills that go beyond the kerbs and track limits. A long-standing relationship exists between Andrea Bertolini and the Prancing Horse, a red thread that has brought success and wins, helping the driver from Sassuolo, class of 1973, to go down in motorsport history. The 2022 season has been no exception. Bertolini, indeed, secured the tenth title of a brilliant career. He celebrated the result thanks to his triumph in the Endurance Cup, Pro-Am class, of the GT World Challenge Europe, a trophy clinched alongside Louis Machiels and Stefano Costantini.

Bertolini, ten career titles, an extraordinary achievement: what does it mean to you?

“This was the goal I had set myself.  Looking back on this journey, I admit that I have always had the great fortune of being able to feel the energy and the support of so many people who have been at my side, starting with Antonello (Coletta, ed). I have been lucky enough to get to know Louis Machiels over the years, who, in addition to being a teammate, has become like a brother. For a boy born in this area, who at the age of six used to come to Fiorano to cling to the track nets and watch the Ferraris racing round, we are talking about something very special.”

If we went back in time, would you ever have thought such a strong career possible?

“I’ll be honest about it: to have certain results you have to be lucky and be in the right place at the right time. The driver is the finisher of a job that starts far off, like a striker in a football team:  you can be a very good centre forward, but if you don’t have the goalkeeper, the defenders and the midfielders to deliver you the right ball, you won’t get very far. I was lucky to find the people who provided me with the material to achieve such results”.

In endurance racing, the relationship with your teammates, with whom you share the cockpit, has a special alchemy: what are the secrets?

“That is a very important aspect. The Competizioni GT group, which is made up of several drivers, is an ideal mix. We love each other, there is no jealousy, we all work towards the common result: representing the Ferrari colours. This is part of our strength, which allows us to react to difficult moments when they happen.”

Several years have passed since your first title, in 2006 in the FIA GT: how much has motorsport changed in that time?

“My world has changed, and I have also changed compared to when I won the GT1 title in the Maserati MC12.  Today I race in the Pro-Am category with Louis, but the objective remains the same: to win. The sporting culture that characterises the Ferrari Competizioni GT group is the real thing, the essence of our world.”

Which Ferrari racing car remains closest to your heart?

“I connect more with the people who have shared a piece of the road with me than with the cars. Certainly, the win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans is something that remains indelibly in my mind: in 2015 we won both that race and the LMGTE Am title, so the Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 we raced in I remember with pleasure. I should add, though, that our working method regarding development allowed us to achieve great results with various cars, and the 458 and 488 models were really cherished by all of us at Competizioni GT.”

What do you experience in the moment of switching from one model to the next?

“When the time comes to move on to a new car, and we meet to talk about it with Antonello Coletta and Ferdinando Cannizzo, we know we are taking on an important legacy. We feel we cannot make mistakes and we are aware that we must keep on improving. It was like this in the various transitions from the Ferrari 360 to the F430, from the 458 to the 488, and it’s the same now that it is the turn of the 296 GT3, a car that has given us incredible feedback right from the start. We will have a formidable ally that we can count on...”

How do you imagine 2023?

“For our company, it will be a very important year. The 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023 will be the sporting event of the year. Ferrari will have a dream car, the 499P, to aim for the overall win in the WEC and in the world’s most famous endurance race. I’ve lived with this company for 30 years: to have the opportunity to talk about hypercars is something that, perhaps, a few years ago I wouldn't have believed possible. On the contrary, all the energy that has been put into it has shaped the dream. When I was told that I would be driving the 499P at Fiorano, in the first days of the Shakedown last July, it was another dream come true. Dreams of this intensity can only come true at Ferrari.”