ferrari fans admire sebastian vettel’s driving skills and love his cheerful manner. Can he become Formula 1 world champion there like michael schumacher and shape a new era??
Monza – monza, italy, ferrari: three terms merge to become a myth. This year, the car brand from maranello celebrates its 70th birthday. Birthday. A victory by sebastian vettel this sunday at the autodromo nazionale di monza can put the icing on the cake for the celebrations. And the world championship title, mamma mia, that would make the german racing driver immortal – for monza, for ferrari, for italy.
You can’t do without emotion. 16 security guards in orange overalls are needed to support a loose steel fence in the pit lane. the crowd of red caps is so huge that someone could easily get crushed. the reason for the hysteria is the obligatory autograph session of ferrari driver sebastian vettel in monza. He urges fans to be calm because he cares.
Then he fulfills autograph requests while they shout: "sebastian, sebastian, sebastian!" it goes on like this. A woman sits on her husband’s shoulders, tosses the pilot a red cap, which he unerringly throws back after signing it. The young woman shrieks with happiness, just like girls do when they ambush the singer justin beaver in front of a hotel entrance or somewhere else.
The ferrari fans have adopted vettel
Sebastian vettel rightly says he’s not the new michael schumacher, but he is a bit of one. Ferrari fans have adopted the Heppenheimer like they did the record-breaking world champion from Kerpen in his day. Two german drivers lead the "bella macchina" to where it belongs – for the first time, vettel could become ferrari world champion this year. He is following in the footsteps of his great predecessor, whether he likes it or not.
The Italians have not only accepted that German thoroughness and German ambition have to help the charmingly chaotic corporate philosophy of the red sports car brand along, they also express their admiration for the driving artists. "first michele, now sebastian – both are great guys and the best racers in the world," says giuseppe, for example, who owns a small bar in monza. There he hears the engines roaring as they race onto the full-throttle track at the Royal Park for their training session. His small bar is decorated with photos of great heroes: lauda, senna, piquet – monza winners they all are.
A vespa as a little proof of love
The somewhat stiff-looking schumacher had to work hard to win the affection of the italians. With each of his five ferrari titles, they had taken him more to their hearts – even if his conducting of the italian national anthem was rather astonishing. Sebastian vettel, on the other hand, was immediately liked by the tifosi and the ferraristi. These days, a white vespa is parked between the red trucks, with a black-red-gold stripe and the inscription: "one of us."a christmas present from the team – and a small token of love, too. The driver uses the scooter mainly in monza and rattles it around. "when i look at sebastian, in many ways he’s already more italian than many of us," says fiat boss sergio marchionne about the 30-year-old driver, whose italian is making audible progress.
The contract extension until 2020 is therefore no coincidence. The "seb," as they call him, feels at home. His cheerful manner, his humor, his ability to show emotion – all this goes down well with the italians. Schumacher was less emotional, at least he often couldn’t show his feelings in the same way. Vettel, on the other hand, hits the note that stirs the italians. "i love the team, i love this great brand. Ferrari is unique," the 30-year-old said a bit pathetically after signing his contract, but you could believe him. But he was not always of this opinion. When things didn’t run smoothly in the past few years, he sometimes made a face as if he no longer saw a future at ferrari.
The world championship battle can still be a tough one
The mood has changed dramatically this season. Most recently in spa, the ferrari of vettel remained close on the heels of the mercedes of lewis hamilton. "it’s rare that you still have to drive across the finish line at full throttle," the briton said, marveling at the power that the red car has recently been developing even on high-speed circuits. With seven points, vettel still leads the world championship ahead of the englishman – this world championship battle could still be a tough one.
sebastian vettel is suitably confident ahead of the italian-grand prix, which he has won three times but never in a ferrari. "the form we showed in spa and the pace we showed in the race were real. We’ve made progress on all fronts," he says, again striking a chord with the tifosi who turn monza into a sea of red caps. "all the love and passion we’ve received so far, we want to give back," says sebastian vettel – the italian with hessian roots.