Former Ferrari president reveals truth about Ayrton Senna deal and comments on Lewis Hamilton's move

Yesterday at 08:13 AM

Music and Ferrari, two worlds that, defying appearances, have a point of contact: they shape beauty and create emotions. Piero Fusaro, an engineer born in 1938, cultivated the first as a hobby ("I had the fortune of listening live to great performers like Furtwangler and Celibidache, for many years I subscribed to the season of the National Symphony Orchestra of Turin and the Unione Musicale") and the second by combining passion with profession. A significant part of Ferrari’s history today—due to the years that have passed—is a bit blurry, but it deserves to be revisited, because yesterday’s Ferrari also helps us understand and appreciate today’s Ferrari.

Here is his full interview for Italian daily newspaper Tuttosport:

Engineer Piero Fusaro, you first entered Ferrari in 1975. What was your impression?
"First of all, let’s say that I have always been passionate about racing and Ferrari in particular, so when, around the middle of 1975, Engineer Ferrari called me to summon me, luckily I was sitting down, otherwise I would have fallen to the ground. I rushed to Ferrari, of course, I was received by the Engineer for lunch, we spent a couple of wonderful hours, and my impression was that the respect and great admiration I had for that man were fully confirmed, and then the first impressions were confirmed over time, we became very good friends, he called me every day to invite me to lunch, including Saturdays and Sundays. Ferrari was a small company, with about 1,500 employees, and at that time, it had some problems because they had launched the 308 GT4, the first car made without Pininfarina’s design (signed by Bertone, ed.), and it was a car that had sales problems initially; in reality, it was a wonderful, easy-to-drive car. I practically lived alongside Enzo Ferrari for five years, breathing the history of motorsport."

What was your relationship like with Mauro Forghieri?
"Fantastic, moreover, we were neighbors, and on Sunday afternoons, we often met with our families. Modenese people are wonderful to me because they are great workers, but they also know how to live well, so we would meet and say 'Shall we have dinner together tonight?' and often on Sunday evening, we dined with wives and children. A great man, Forghieri, he was someone who spoke his mind, an extremely sincere person. One fact that hasn’t always come out in the newspapers is that one of Engineer Ferrari’s great insights was to create a team with three fundamental components: the first was to take care of the development of the car of the moment, and that was done by Rocchi, the second dealt with assembly and engine development and car assembly, entrusted to Engineer Bussi, and the third worked on the development of the car of the future, entrusted to Forghieri. So Ferrari had divided the Sporting Management into three main sectors, and then Forghieri, besides focusing on the future, also took care of whatever he wanted, it was inevitable, he was made that way."

In 1988, after the death of the Engineer, you were appointed president of Ferrari. How did the call come?
"I was summoned by Lawyer Agnelli, who told me, 'Look Fusaro, Ferrari always told me that you should have been his successor.' Unfortunately, Ferrari passed away, so I'm calling you to be president of Ferrari."

A sign of the mutual respect between Ferrari and Agnelli?
"Yes, there was extreme respect between the two, after all, Lawyer Agnelli was an incredible admirer of these beautiful and high-performance cars, and at the same time, Ferrari was a great connoisseur of automobiles, he even knew the development of Fiat cars and sometimes would voice his opinion."

Your presidency was a bit complicated, at least from a sports perspective.
"It's true, and it's right to separate the two aspects. My presidency, from an industrial point of view, was an enormous success, because when I left Ferrari, the net worth was almost equal to the turnover, and the net financial position was half of the turnover, so it was a company full of money and also had incredible profitability, I'd say enormous, I believe they still don't have net profit percentages on the balance sheet as high as those, of course, when compared to the global numbers, which are very different. From a sports point of view, when I returned to Ferrari as president, the racing team was a very well-balanced, well-formed team, with great technicians and great drivers, and I asked Cesare Fiorio to come, not because a Sporting Director was necessary, but because I thought, having known Fiorio for years, that I had appointed him as director of Abarth, he could bring his knowledge of regulations, their management, managing the people who followed FIA regulations, and managing drivers. Otherwise, there was nothing needed, in fact, as soon as Fiorio arrived at Ferrari, after a few days, we won the Brazilian Grand Prix with Mansell."

It was a surprising victory.
"Yes, I didn't expect it either, because it was the first steps of the famous automatic gearbox, so there was a learning curve just beginning, and we weren't even sure we would finish the race. Let me make a joke: Fiorio, with his 'savior' syndrome, immediately took the credit for the victory. It's true he was there, but the credit also goes to the others who made the car and developed it, and indeed, that year we won other races, not many, but we won others because we had reliability problems with the gearbox. Then, finally, in 1990, the car took off, and we almost won both the drivers' and constructors' titles, if not for the famous accident with Senna at Suzuka. So, from a sports point of view, I don't want to take credit, but I believe I worked within the framework that Ferrari had set, meaning a team at a good level, bringing it to the verge of winning the world title, without my merit, all the credit goes to the team, the mechanics in the pits, the engineers, and the drivers."

I don't want to revisit the Senna-Ferrari affair since you've clarified it several times. Instead, I ask you: how did Prost manage to get confirmed by Lawyer Agnelli?
(Laughs) "To understand how it went, you have to know Prost and Lawyer Agnelli well. The Lawyer didn't refuse meetings, he was a worldly man, a great character, a prince who would grant an audience when someone asked to meet him. Of course, if a 'baluba' (a rough, insignificant person, ed.) tried, they had to go through several filters that would stop them, but if it was Prost, they would say 'Lawyer, Prost wants to see you,' and Agnelli would immediately say, 'Where is he? Outside?' Maybe at that moment, you journalists knew even more about the negotiation with Senna than I did, the same rumors reached Prost, and for him, it was easy to go to Agnelli and get confirmation for the following year. However, I still want to clarify what happened afterward, because my version was confirmed at the time by Cesare Romiti to Carlo Cavicchi, who had interviewed me.

Prost announced to the world that his contract was confirmed, Agnelli didn't deny it, and we accepted the situation, I don't see what we could have done differently, because Agnelli was the owner of Fiat and Ferrari, and he wasn't confirming just anyone, Prost was a champion who had already won three world titles and was about to win his fourth with Ferrari. Not to mention the famous contract that Fiorio later waved around, you can't even call it a pre-contract or a letter of intent, because it lacked some fundamental elements."

In what sense?
"On Senna's side, everything was clear, it was Ayrton Senna, with address and everything necessary, on Ferrari's side, there was never the GS SA, if Senna had signed that contract, he would have signed it with no one, because there was the GSA SA (Sporting Management Automobile with shares) and not GS."

There's a photo of you speaking to the press in Jerez, in 1990. The week before, Mansell had won at Estoril, and at the start, he pushed Prost against the wall, and that victory by Mansell probably cost Prost the World Championship. Do you think that title would have changed history?
"Yes, absolutely, and I'm also convinced that we lost the championship at Estoril more than due to the accident with Senna at Suzuka. I'm sure winning that championship would have changed history. Winning a World Championship is something that changes the lives of everyone, the title had been missing since 1979, and it would have been a success in the Ferrari wave, in continuity with Ferrari, and for me, it would have been crucial, as well as for Ferrari and the Ferrari fans. That would have been the last championship won by Ferrari under Enzo Ferrari."

What is your memory of Senna?
"I had very little contact with Senna, just a few handshakes, I can't say I knew him. What I can say from the outside is that he was one of the greatest drivers of all time, he marked the history of motorsport, he was a particular character, combining his extraordinary skill as a driver with incredible mysticism, he had a very pronounced spirituality, perhaps that's also why—now I'm exaggerating—his transcendence, he was an extraordinary man. A fantastic driver but also a great man, a man of thought."

Fiorio’s departure from Ferrari in 1991 left everyone surprised, considering the timing and manner in which it happened.
"In reality, nothing particularly happened, in 1991, I left because I hadn't won the World Championship in three years, and I thought it was right to resign from Ferrari, especially since there were divisions within the company that I didn't like, and the same can be said for Fiorio. At that point, Ferrari was actually being managed by an executive committee, I had a strong voice, but so did Romiti and Montezemolo, and it was thought that perhaps it was better to start over because the relationship with Prost was becoming a bit strained (he would be dismissed after the Japanese GP, the penultimate race of the year, ed.), I'd say it was almost the natural end of an exhausted relationship. And as far as I'm concerned, while the years spent with Ferrari were wonderful, the last three years as president were tough, evidently, there were others who didn't think I should be Ferrari's successor. If Prost had won, they wouldn't have come to congratulate me for the victory, but they would have asked me why Mansell didn't finish."

Now Hamilton is arriving at Ferrari, at 40 years old. Is it too late?
"For Hamilton, it wouldn't be too late even at 80 years old, he's a driver I adore, he's truly one of the last great drivers, although I don't know his ability to set up a car. If I look at him from the outside, very coldly, I have to say Hamilton is making a great deal, but probably Ferrari is also making a great deal because maybe he's good at tuning the car, and he's still a fantastic driver. He's an extremely serious person, he will be an added value for the team; one could say that the great deal is made by him, because ending a career like his at Ferrari is no small thing, but I'm sure he will make a great contribution."

It's proof that Ferrari's allure is still strong, even for a driver who has won so much.
"I believe Ferrari's allure remains and will remain unchanged over time. There is no great driver who doesn't dream of winning with Ferrari, and even if they don't win, they still leave with a kind of lifetime insurance certificate."

Do you like today’s Formula 1?
"I'll tell you, in the last Grand Prix, I fell asleep at the start and woke up at the finish, today's F1 bores me a bit, the current rules make it too dull, these continuous 'under investigation' messages that appear, come on… There are episodes that have always been part of racing. I'm not saying it should be like in my time, when the commercial director, because he was the one who knew English, would go around the world collecting driver corpses, but those were different times, now they've made tracks safer, they've made the cockpits extremely safe, but let these drivers fight a bit. If someone puts their wheels a centimeter off the line, they get penalized, these track limits are unbearable, just like most of the 'under investigation.'"

Since you love music, I'll say: Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. Which drivers do you associate them with?
"Ah, you've put me up against three giants of music. Bach is Fangio, Mozart is Senna, and Beethoven (a couple of seconds of hesitation, ed.) is Hamilton."

As a Torinese, how did you experience the 2006 Olympics?
"I have a great memory of it, a beautiful one, because for Turin, it was an extraordinary opportunity that changed the face of the city. I'm sorry for the exclusion from the 2026 Games, the Olympics are always a huge fortune for a city, an opportunity for development. The legacy that Lawyer Agnelli left to Turin with the Games was a stroke of luck for the city, after all, the meaning of the Olympics is also to make structural investments that impact the urban fabric and last over time."

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