Passion
“A passion unequalled anywhere in the world”
Photography: Maki Galimberti
We have said it - and heard it said - a thousand times: Ferrari is one.
There are no distinctions here between the different areas, departments and positions: we are all part of this great company, which celebrates its 75th anniversary next year.
Which is why we decided to mix it up a bit for the photographs in the 2021 Yearbook. We selected a series of locations throughout the company and asked our colleagues to pose for us in areas where they wouldn’t necessarily work every day.
Hence, we have engineers in the Paint shop wearing those instantly recognisable red safety overalls, sales staff amongst the marvellous V8s in Engine Assembly, lawyers meeting up in front of the Product Development Centre, people who usually spend their time out on the track instead seen indoors in the Mechanical Machining Area, and so forth.
At the GES Logistics Centre, from left to right: Luca Pasqualini, Florian Brice Aletti, Giulia Vicentini, Luca Pedrini, Miguel Angel Giovingo, Paula Mudaca, Enes Tas
They weren’t operatives or executives, women or men, or different nationalities.
Just people.
Because Ferrari is one big team.
This is a subject particularly important to our CEO, Benedetto Vigna, who joined the team in September. For this feature he gathered with his colleagues in what many consider to be heart of Ferrari: Station 19 on the 8-cylinder assembly line. This is known as ‘the Marriage station’ because it is here that the engine is put into the chassis.
“I arrived at Maranello after spending 26 years in a high-tech company,” Vigna says. “Throughout my entire professional career, I have heard the word ‘passion’ used again and again about the most diverse of working environments.
At the Assembly Lines entrance; The V12 Assembly Line roof terrace; In the Paint Shop; Outside the GES Logistics Centre; In the Mechanical Machining Department
And it’s true: there are plenty of places where people work ardently, tirelessly, completely believing in what they are doing. However, I don’t think the passion of the people who work in Ferrari has any equal anywhere in the world.
That was what most struck me when I first arrived. It’s an even deeper, more heartfelt passion that unites everyone on every level. People here are genuinely in love with the brand, you can feel a very special sense of belonging. This is what allows us to strive constantly and successfully for innovation and perfection.
Given the right kind of motivation, everyone has the potential to become more curious and attentive, tireless in the pursuit of excellence.”
In Engine Assembly, from left to right: Veronica Verruso, Davide Torre, Virginia Ercolanese, Francesco Spina, Stefania Valeria Rinaldi, Roberto Schiavello
Enzo Ferrari himself liked to stress that in addition to walls and machines, his company was made up first and foremost of people. As time went on that concept has been put into practice with initiatives that are now firmly part of Ferrari tradition: from opening up the doors to employees’ families for ‘Natale Bimbi’ at Christmas, to ‘Formula Benessere’ visits and annual medical check-ups in collaboration with Med-Ex, to our focus on sustainability and this year’s Equal Salary certification. Not forgetting, of course, the investment we pour into the continuous professional development of our employees through the Scuola dei Mestieri and an Executive MBA with the Bologna Business School.
All of this has helped turn Ferrari into more than just a team.
“Even the concept of ‘family’ runs the risk of being abused,” continues Vigna. “But, once again, I don’t think it is any exaggeration to talk in those terms at Ferrari. And I don’t just mean our employees. I saw proof of that first hand when I went to Taormina for the 10thanniversary
Cavalcade this September. I witnessed how our clients rightly feel part of the big Ferrari family.
We should never forget that, beyond our individual abilities, we are first and foremost part of a huge network, not just here in the company, but also in terms of all the people all round the world that love and support us: our clients, our tifosi and Prancing Horse enthusiasts of every kind. A universe that must never stop expanding.”