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HomeMotorsports“Seeing Red": New Formula 1 documentary about Luca di Montezemolo

“Seeing Red”: New Formula 1 documentary about Luca di Montezemolo

Luca di Montezemolo, former team manager and president of the Formula 1 team Ferrari, is the subject of a documentary about his life and work

For Luca di Montezemolo, Ferrari was more than just a phase in his life. This is shown in “Seeing Red”, a new documentary about the life and work of the former team manager and president of the traditional Italian brand, which is scheduled for release in cinemas in 2025.

The film’s maker is well known in Formula One circles: Manish Pandey was responsible for the documentary “Senna” about three-time world champion Ayrton Senna and also played a leading role in the mini-series “Lucky” about long-time Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone.

In fact, Pandey was in the process of interviewing Ecclestone for his documentary in 2020 when he suddenly received a call from Italy. On the other end: di Montezemolo. “He said he had never done a book or anything like that about his life, and whether that was something I would be interested in doing,” Pandey tells Motorsport Magazine.

Pandey wanted to – but filming with the former Ferrari boss was not that easy: “When you’re out on the street with Luca, you’re immediately surrounded by fans. It’s like walking with Paul Newman,” says Pandey.

Drink like the world champions

di Montezemolo’s fame in Italy is mainly due to his role as team manager at Ferrari in the 1970s. At that time, di Montezemolo and Niki Lauda were stirring up Formula 1 and brought two drivers’ titles to Maranello.

Pandey used historical footage from that time for the documentary – and he had help with his research: Edoardo Stella, son of McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, was one of the editors who searched in old archives.

“These images show how close the relationship between Luca and Niki really was,” says Pandey. “You are surprised by it. Imagine Lewis [Hamilton] and [his Mercedes race engineer] Bono [Bonnington] going to dinner together after the race, drinking and then staying in the same hotel. That blew me away.”

Pandey emphasizes that the scenes from di Montezemolo’s second Ferrari era, around the successes with Michael Schumacher, are just as intense. “At the end of the day, this film is above all about loyalty.”

Career stages outside of Ferrari

The documentary is moderated by English journalist Chris Harris, who accompanied di Montezemolo at some stages of his career. Former Top Gear moderator Harris is convinced: “Luca di Montezemolo is the most interesting person I’ve met in my professional life.”

And di Montezemolo has had a full professional life – even outside of Ferrari: as CEO, he was responsible for organizing the 1990 World Cup in Italy, he was head of the Italian Association of Newspaper Publishers, sat on the board of directors of various large companies and was voted one of the world’s top 50 managers by the Financial Times in 2004. He has been an honorary citizen of Maranello since 2002.

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