Sunday, June 29, 2008

Luca di Montezemelo, Fiat


His name maybe sounds like Montezuma, the famous Aztec emperor, but for Fiat, this man is Ferrari President Luca di Montezemelo: Montezemelo, a trained lawyer, also oversees the entire Ferrari and Maserati operation, including production of their road-going sports cars. He had previously served as Ferrari team manager in the 1970s before going on to a series of high-profile management roles within the Agnelli empire that owns Fiat and, therefore, ultimately, Ferrari too. He was brought back into the Ferrari fold after the team had suffered a disastrous season in 1991.
Montezemelo brought in Jean Todt to be �sporting director� of the Formula One team, and Todt in turn hired Michael Schumacher as a driver and Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne to head up the technical department. This has proved to be the most successful team of individuals in Ferrari�s long history. Montezemelo only rarely appears at races and the running of the team falls to Todt, a brilliant organiser who first made his name in the 1960s and 1970s as a rally co-driver. Todt then went on to run the competition department of Peugeot, overseeing both its rallying and sports car racing programmes, before Montezemelo recruited him for Ferrari.

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