An F1 revolution simmering in Italy?

Formula 1 could be in for an unusual development in the weeks ahead as Ferrari could be on the verge of losing its guiding hand for the last 19 years, as rumours swirl in Italy that Luca di Montezemolo might be about to leap into politics. Montezemolo is 63 years of age and it looks increasingly likely that Italy will soon need a charismatic new leader to replace Silvio Berlusconi (74) as his coalition government is currently falling apart. Berlusconi faces a vote of no confidence in his government on December 14. On the same day the country’s Constitutional Court will rule on whether a law that grants Berlusconi immunity from prosecution is constitutional or not.

The government has a mandate until 2013, but things are not going well for Berlusconi as many of his allies are beginning to jump ship. The current crisis began in the summer when Berlusconi’s primary ally Gianfranco Fini split away from the ruling Il Popolo della Libertà coalition, taking many members of his former party, known as the Alleanza Nazionale, with him. He established a new party called Futuro e Libertà in the summer. Berlusconi’s attempts to silence Fini have back-fired, leading to a revolt that stripped the government of its parliamentary majority and resulted in the resignation of four government ministers. Many in Italy believe that Berlusconi has finally lost the magic that has made him the leading player in Italian politics since the mid-1990s. Since those days Italian politics have been based on personality with a dominant Berlusconi leading the right wing and centre right parties and the left struggling because it does not a comparable character. Berlusconi’s first government collapsed after just seven months in power and one of his ministers Lamberto Dini ran the country until May 1996 when he lost the general election to socialist Romano Prodi, between then and the autumn of 1998 when some of his coalition split and a new government was formed by Massimo D’Alema, who had to create a second alliance a year later before being ousted by April 2000 by Giuliano Amato. His government lasted only until the next General Election in May 2001 when Berlusconi’s new centre-right coalition took power for the next five years. Prodi put together a new alliance and in April 2006 defeated Berlusconi and took power, but in 2008, he lost a vote of confidence and resigned and the subsequent election took Berlusconi’s new coalition back to office. That is now falling apart and there is much talk of a new centre-right coalition being formed, involving Fini, Francesco Rutelli (who was the leader of the centre-left alliance defeated in 2001 by Berlusconi) and, so rumours suggest, Montezemolo, who is very popular because of his successes with Ferrari and has a good track record as a former chairman of Fiat and the ex-president of Confindustria, the Italian association of industrialists. He is not saying anything at the moment but clearly sees this as his big chance as the centre-right needs a charismatic new champion.

Berlusconi’s allies also seem to see Montezemolo as a threat. One of his chief allies Roberto Calderoli called for the Ferrari boss to stand down after the team was blamed for Fernando Alonso’s failure to win the World Championship in Abu Dhabi.

Weird it may be, but nonetheless true.

Piero Ferrari, Enzo Ferrari’s son went on the attack saying that “if we want to have a look at how much Ferrari has done for Italy’s image around the world, then I can only say that it is definitely much more than some politicians have done.”

Montezemolo himself has said in recent days of Berlusconi that “the one-man show is over”.

Italy needs a steady hand. Its economy is in trouble with debts that are 120% of its GDP and is in danger of collapse if borrowing costs continue to rise. Montezemolo is dashing and successful. He ran Ferrari’s F1 team as long ago as 1973, guiding the team to World Championship success with Niki Lauda in 1975 and 1977. After that he became Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli’s right hand man, running various businesses including the La Stampa newspaper, the drinks company Cinzano and heading the Azzura America’s Cup team, while also presiding over the Juventus soccer team. Between 1985 and 1990 he organised the Italia 90 World Cup competition before returning to Maranello as the boss of the entire Ferrari company. This ultimately led to the recruitment of Jean Todt in 1993 and five World Championships for Michael Schumacher between 2000 and 2006, which gave Italians an enormous amount of national pride. He headed Confindustria between 2004 and 2008 and was FIAT chairman from 2004 until earlier this year. It was widely reported that he was offered the job of Minister of Industry by Berlusconi in 2009 but turned it down although he did start his own

Media outlets reported that Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi offered Montezemolo the post of Industry Minister in May. Last year Montezemolo started an association called Italia Futura, which promotes political debate about the future of Italy, aimed at the younger generations. He is also the primary figure in a company called Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori, which is the first privately-owned high-speed train operator in Italy, which will launch train services between nine Italian cities late next year.

What is most interesting for Formula 1 is what effect his departure would have on the Ferrari company – and who would take over… There are also knock-on effects with regard to the Formula One Teams’ Association (FOTA), which Montezemolo played a key role in founding a couple of years ago.

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