Understanding the workings of the Italian political scene is about as easy as explaining the internal workings of a Formula 1 gearbox. Anyone can tell you that the driver uses a paddle to change gears, but how that actually happens is a rather more complicated process.
The reason that this is important is that it involves (or may involve) Luca Montezemolo, the chairman of Ferrari, who is the man who calls the shots at F1’s most famous team. Montezemolo has been edging quietly towards a political career since he gave up being chairman of Fiat nearly three years ago. Now 65, Montezemolo is the force behind a new political party called Italia Futura. This was launched a few months ago but did not have the impact that had been hoped for. The resignation of Mario Monti’s government has, however, given the party a second chance and it is now part of the new alliance Monti has put together in an effort to keep his job at the elections that are planned for the end of February.
This alliance is called Agenda Monti per l’Italia (AMI) and includes the Unione di Centro (UdC), a party led by Pier Ferdinando Casini, the conservative Futuro e Libertà (FLI), led by Gianfranco Fini, and the Partito Liberale Italiano (PLI), headed by Stefano de Luca. In addition the new formation includes a number of defectors from Pier Luigi Bersani’s Partito Democratico (PD), which currently leads the polls and from the Silvio Berlusconi’s Il Popolo della Libertà (PdL). The alliance has been endorsed by the Catholic Church as well. There is no guarantee that this organisation will be able to beat Bersani, who is reckoned by opinion polls to have 36 percent of the vote, with Monti’s alliance having just 23 percent.
Perhaps wisely, Montezemolo has decided not to stand for election himself, thus remaining the spiritual leader of his movement without being in the firing line if the Monti alliance fails to win the day. Thus Montezemolo can continue to enjoy a successful image as head of Ferrari and perhaps if things go well he can then move into a more political role.
joeblogsf1 
Interesting stuff!
Hi Joe , Italia Futura was not “launched a few months ago” , in fact it was founded in July 2009 and , more importantly , it was never meant to be a “political party” – it was & is a think tank. However , with recent events and as per Montezemolo’s comments , Italia Futura will in fact evolve into a political party with a new leader (other than Montezemolo) at the helm.
Better research please !
Italia Futura was a think tank until a few months ago. It was launched as a political party in September.
Better comments please.
Hi Joe , to my knowledge no such “launch” took place in September – I will of course stand corrected (and be very interesed) if you could direct me as to where I can find news of this “launch”. On Italia Futura’s website there is video footage of Montezemolo’s interview with TG24 on the 23/12/12 – in Italian. He simply reaffirms’ IF’s support for a Monti stand in this year’s elections.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Italy
“On 30 September 2012, in an interview to Corriere della Sera, Montezemolo announced that IF will take part to the 2013 general election and that it will support Mario Monti to serve a full term as Prime Minister of Italy.”
Oh snap Spartaco, I think the kids are saying “you got owned” or something to that effect. Joe I had to laugh at the “better comments please”.
Wikipedia ?? , in that case it must be true…..
Just give up and go away.
When was the last time you heard any F1 journalist saying anything to a fan?
And you are qualified to lecture on the subject of what a proper F1 journalist is for what reason?
I work for free to provide F1 fans with sensible information. I don’t mind being challenged and told I am wrong, but if I am not wrong I have the right to reply to someone claiming I am. In this case, the person not only challenged my story without any basis for doing so, but then when given evidence that he was wrong, refused to accept it.
I simply showed him the door. You are welcome to follow. I don’t care about the number of readers I have. I care about providing good information.
Yup, that is why I am here. Real info, real unbiased reporting. Good work Joe.
That Italia Futura is standing bend Mario Monti’s list in the upcoming elections does not mean it’s a political party in the traditional sense, but effectively it has become one. Don’t argue with Joe though, he knows better than you, after all he correctly predicted Montezemolo would certainly run for prime minister after Berlusconi’s demise (you can’t run for PM in Italy but hey…) and Lapo Elkann would take his place at Ferrari. Gotta love the Brits! :)]
Droll, but no very droll!
Ha ha! My personal opinion would be: If things go well, Montezemello will stay with Ferrari and steer clear of politics.
Ferrari & F1 ARE politics
If Luca has any sense he will avoid being involved the next two or three Italian governments. It will take decade for the economy to get into recovery mode. When interest rates finally start to rise it will trigger another tidal wave of bad debt and default. (Note this is expected to happen in the UK and other countries as well) Then inflation will follow and an “Argentina experience” is possible.
Since we are in the midst of the silly season, let’s spend some time talking about interest rates instead of horsepower and bending front wings 🙂
If they really are about to rise it spells an awful lot of problems for America. Their ever increasing debt could push the whole country into insolvency! And that would mean cancellation of the Austin GP! Oh my dog! That would be totally unacceptable!
Let’s start gathering signatures with a request to the Fed: Please, all you Lords of the interest rates, keep them low for another few decades.
congrats on the column for autocar. nice one. will you still be doing the blog??
Yes, of course.
Is that the one Mike Scarlett worked for as “The Scribe” with “Disconnected Jottings” I’m going back to my first job here, at Philips, in the late 60s. We used to give Car radios as prizes, for the mag competitions, always got a good review. (you can’t “dis” what you are giving as a prize) Or maybe it was Motor.
Anyway congratulations on crossing the corridor Joe.
Nice one! (Autocar) Spread the word.
Joe, your headshot suddenly made me think of a younger Tom Wilkinson, who played the protagonist in Michael Clayton, who’s out to upturn the injustices of the legal system. Only without the madness that character had. They butchered the theater release, omitting the balance that to me says Wilkinson was the actual lead. Get it on DVD. Shocking difference, maybe Sydney Pollack was on his path from the planet at that time. For anyone who follows F1 politics, fair chance you’ll like.
While wishing Luca D. M. luck on his quest for glory, I can’t help noting that not just in Italy, but nearly everywhere on the planet, elections are all the rage… Just when the outcome in every case makes not a blind bit of difference to the policies to be pursued by the victors. These policies are, so far as many of us can see, pre-set by supra-national bodies that no one seems to know a lot about, and no one in the media wants to talk about….
Perhaps Joe could prepare a pioneering article on this during these quiet winter months ?
Greetings & Happy New Year everyone!
Italia Futura has a website (in Italian only) where it says that it is an association in the sense of a think-tank. It is NOT a political party. While the job of chief of government was held by buffoon Silvio Berlusconi, Montezemolo has frequently aired his frustration about the perception of the country that Italians but also foreigners were getting. He was sort of saying that not all Italians were like Berlusconi and his gang. Soon after that lots of people have been wondering if Montezemolo was about to enter full scale into the political arena.
While it would have made a huge difference if he were to stand himself for the job of Prime Minister it is a completely different story now that he has declared his full support for an alliance that stands behind Mario Monti.
As Joe said, Italian politics are extremely complicated and totally incomprehensible to outsiders. Whereas most countries and all geographical maps have only 2 poles, in Italy there are 3 poles to chose from. Montezemolo is standing for the so-called centre pole. Not on the left, nor on the right. With an idiotic electoral system put in place by Berlusconi (which was only designed to please his party) it is easy to guess that no single “pole” will get the necessary majority to make the hard choices that Italy desperately needs.
It has now become clear that Montezemolo prefers to stay at Ferrari rather than risking his reputation in the murky watery waters of Italian politcs.
As an F1 fan I can only say: Luca, well done!
I think you will find that it is now a political party.
Joe, you’re better than needing to respond continually to the trolls. We are lucky to have the insights of an insider. Trolls, please go away.
It seems to be splitting hairs as to whether Italia Futura is or is not a political party. We shall see whether it stands as a party seeking parliamentary seats within the Monti-led coaltion. But surely the important point for us is whether LdM’s political involvement, both during the forthcoming election and subsequently, might encroach on his commitment to Ferrari. And whether, if it did, that might have an adverse effect on the team and on Fiat’s commitment to investing in success in F1. Let us hope not, but it seems possible.