One of the requirements for racing clothing and shoes is long-term fire resistance. Every year safety standards are getting higher – and one of those who laid the foundations for these rules is the famous Italian shoemaker Francesco Liberto.
Italian Gazzetta dello Sport writes that Liberto, known by the pseudonym Ciccio di Cefalu, died at the age of 87 after a long battle with the disease.
At the age of six, Francesco was sent to the workshop of his uncle, a shoemaker, to learn the trade, later Emerson Fittipaldi, Michael Schumacher, Jacky X and René Arnoux wore shoes sewn by him, and Niki Lauda completely saved her legs from burns in a terrible fire in 1976 -m.
Enzo Ferrari, in his book Piloti che gente, wrote warmly about Francesco, who literally invented comfortable racing shoes, resistant and safe – and sewed them according to personal measurements. Mainly due to problems with his toes, Vic Alford had a size 44 on his left boot and a size 42 on his right boot.
Francesco Liberto’s boots can be seen in the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, the Rossetti Brothers Museum in Milan, the Roman Museum in France and the Deutsches Kunstmuseum.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
