Luca Cordero di Montezemolo was key in Fernando Alonso’s arrival at Ferrari in 2010 and could also have been key in the signing of the two-time Spanish champion by Aston Martin 13 years later. The former president of the Italian brand has a very good relationship with Lawrence Stroll-owner of the British team-and it seems that the Canadian listens to his advice.
First as a sponsor of Ferrari and then with his son Lance as a member of the team’s young driver programme, Lawrence Stroll and Luca Cordero di Montezemolo have known each other for many years. For this reason, it is not surprising that they maintain contact today, nor that the Italian, away from F1 since 2014, is interested in the future of Aston Martin.
As published by the renowned Italian journalist Paolo Ciccarone in RMC Motori, Di Montezemolo has been advising Stroll on how to make Aston Martin F1 a winning team. President of Ferrari from 1991 to 2018 and a member of Ferrari in the 70s as assistant to Enzo Ferrari and sports director, he knows well how a premier class team works.
Knowing the Montezemolo-Stroll connection, it is easier to understand the signing in recent times of personnel who, in the past, was key to the success in Maranello, and of course, Fernando Alonso, who has been considered by the former president of Ferrari as one of the best drivers in F1 history.
And not only that, Montezemolo knows well that Alonso is capable of pulling the car of a team that is in a phase of growth and reconstruction, as he did in the Ferrari of 2010, restoring the illusion to the Scuderia after a difficult 2009 season and after five years without convincing, with cars inferior to the favorite McLaren.
Montezemolo also knows that Alonso is the best ambassador a supercar brand can have, offering its customers high performance and extreme sensations. Not surprisingly, the Asturian already uses (and boasts) his Aston Martin DBX707.
Di Montezemolo offered help to Ferrari?
The 75-year-old Italian businessman would have offered his help to Ferrari with the aim of getting off the ground after more than a decade of drought. After all, the last titles in 2007 (drivers) and 2008 (constructors) were achieved with him at the helm of the Scuderia. However, the company preferred not to have his services, according to RMC Motori.
All this despite the strength that Montezemolo has in Formula 1, his good contacts with promoters and in the FIA, as well as in F1 itself that is currently directed by Stefano Domenicali, who incidentally managed Ferrari when he was as president of the company.