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La Gazzetta: Interview with Piero Ferrari after receiving the Mecenate dello Sport award

Piero Ferrari, the second and only living son of Enzo Ferrari and the Vice Chairman of Ferrari, received the ‘Mecenate dello Sport’ award. The award is promoted by the ‘Fondazione Mecenate dello Sport – Varaldo Di Pietro’ to support the universal values of sports disciplines and reward the figures who have made an essential, national and international, contribution to the growth of both sport and activities of social and charitable value.

A couple of excerpts from his interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport:

“Charles Leclerc? My father certainly would have liked him for sure. The comparison with the past is always difficult to make. Gilles Villeneuve was always pure instinct. Charles is very different in that respect: He is an intelligent driver, an extremely gifted boy from all points of view, with extraordinary reflexes, great concentration. If we can give him the right car, he will be able to give us a lot of satisfaction.”

When asked how much trust does Ferrari have in Charles Leclerc, Piero Ferrari says very much. He affirms the strength of Ferrari’s current driver lineup, but tries not to say too much on Ferrari’s position in 2022: 

“Carlos Sainz has also proved to be a solid and fast young driver. We have a good team and in the future things will look different for us. The cards will be reshuffled and we must not forget that with the new technical regulations we are actually starting from scratch next season.”

He speaks about Michael Schumacher:

“I’ve had the pleasure of having Schumacher as a guest in my home, drinking a bottle of red wine together. He really enjoyed these moments of intimacy and tranquility. He was a simple person – clear, precise, a very linear personality. I’m sorry that we talk about him today as if he is dead, because he is not. Michael is there but he cannot communicate.”

He talks about how Ferrari is supporting Haas to help Mick Schumacher: 

“[Mick] is making his way in a team that we support (Haas). His team has made the choice not to spend in 2021, so they are using a car that was already not good in 2020. But they are spending for 2022 and we at Ferrari are also helping Haas. For his second year, we hope to give Schumacher a car with which he can demonstrate his qualities.”

In the video, when they ask him about Mick, Piero says that Mick is very serious and focused, that he is learning as he should, and that Mick knows that there's more to being a driver than just getting into the car and driving.