Before the race weekend in Monza, Scuderia boss Mattia Binotto spoke about the special attitude towards the Italian Grand Prix, starting with the story of how his love for Ferrari began.
Q: How did your love for racing and Ferrari start?
Mattia Binotto: It all started in childhood. In our family, my grandfather was fond of cars and a fan of Ferrari, and his enthusiasm was transferred to me. He didn’t miss a single race, we watched Formula 1 on TV together and that played a part.
As I got older I was more and more attracted to the Scuderia, the people who worked on this team and its riders. I was a passionate fan of Gilles Villeneuve because he always gave his best no matter what car he had to drive.
Although I grew up in Switzerland, Ferrari was like a national team to me. Every time she won, my heart beat faster and I was proud to be Italian.
Q: Tell us about the characteristics of the track in Monza…
Mattia Binotto: It occupies a unique place on the calendar, it is an incredibly fast track, one of a kind, and there the cars and their engines are under a lot of pressure. In Monza, the engine runs four-fifths of a circle at maximum speed, so it needs to be debugged perfectly.
All 53 laps of the distance must be covered at very high speeds and the riders have no right to make a mistake as there is no time to recoup.
Question: Finally, all restrictions on the occupation of the stands have been lifted. What do you think the atmosphere will be this weekend?
Mattia Binotto: This year the circuit in Monza celebrates its centenary, this is a legendary circuit. The Italian Grand Prix is a special event for Italian teams, mainly for Ferrari, but I think for all of Formula 1.
Passionate fans are one of the reasons why all teams love to come to Monza. Tifosi is a very demanding and knowledgeable audience. But they are capable of real madness, and I will never forget how the crowd rushed to the track after Charles Leclerc’s win in 2019 – I watched it from the pit wall.
Tifosi supports their favorite team very passionately and fervently, even if we don’t do everything the way we would like, they are the ones who make us work better and better. When I see them striving to get closer to the podium after the race, I am overwhelmed with emotions and this weekend we will do everything we can to achieve the result our fans are waiting for.
Source: F1 News
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