"Taste cannot be bought" - Here's why former Ferrari owner loved Michael Schumacher

Although Ferrari is considered one of the biggest and most successful F1 teams in history, they were financially unstable back in the 1960s. So when the Italian carmaker needed saving, it was about to make an investment deal with Ford, until Fiat stepped in and purchased a 50% stake in the company in 1969.

Gianni Agnelli, who led Fiat, gradually took hold of the Italian F1 team and saved them from bankruptcy. Since the death of Enzo Ferrari, Fiat's involvement in the Prancing Horse increased significantly, until the Italian carmaker let go of its holdings in 2014.

John Elkann, Agnelli's grandson, took the reins after the latter passed away. However, another one of his other grandchildren, Lapo Elkann, recently reminisced on how Agnelli took hold of Ferrari and fell in love with the team.

Speaking to Oggi magazine, Elkann said:

“He saved the Prancing Horse, preventing it from being sold to the Americans. Then he chose the right people: [former Ferrari chairman] Luca di Montezemolo and Jean Todt.”

Lapo Elkann further explained how his grandfather loved the drivers who won the most. Of course, Michael Schumacher was arguably the most successful driver on the Italian team and was an Agnelli-favorite. The German won six of his world titles with them and dominated the sport in the early 2000s. According to Elkann, Agnelli also liked drivers like Gilles Villeneuve and Ayrton Senna for their driving styles and dedication. He said:

“He loved Ferrari cars and he loved all the beautiful things in life. It’s not enough to be rich to appreciate beauty. Taste cannot be bought. His favourite driver was the one who won. I think that’s why he loved Michael Schumacher. Then he liked Gilles Villeneuve, his way of driving. And Ayrton Senna, who, had he not died so tragically, would have come to Ferrari the following year. He loved talent and courage and also recognised them in his opponents. He was a true sportsman.”

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Ferrari team principal believes current new regulations are good for F1

Frederic Vasseur, the new team principal at the Prancing Horse, spoke highly of F1's new regulations. Speaking to Medium, he explained how the teams are much closer to each other in terms of performance. He talked about power units being frozen until 2026 and closer battles between teams and drivers in the 2022 F1 season. Vasseur said:

“All of these are going in the direction of the convergence of performance. Even the fact the engines are frozen means F1 is going toward a tighter championship fight, and it is working. Teams were spread out about five per cent in qualifying performance in 2017 and 2018, and now most teams are within two per cent. In 2022, five teams were within a one per cent performance margin between them. It will be a fantastic sport if F1 maintains these regulations for a while.”

Frederic Vasseur has already started working with the Maranello-based team for the 2023 F1 season. He has also spoken with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc as the two drivers train hard for next season.