Ferrari’s Head of Ferrari Attività Sportive GT, Antonello Coletta was beaming after the pole position effort put in by Antonio Fuoco in the debuting Ferrari 499P. The Ferrari AF Corse team will start from pole on the factory’s return to top-class sports prototype racing for the first time in 50 years.
DSC caught up with Coletta after the team’s historic achievement:
How much does this mean to you and the Ferrari brand?
“Honestly, it’s a big surprise for us. But I think that with the method we took and with the passion we all had it was an amazing job and at the end the result came.
“This is Ferrari. The real Ferrari that all the fans know very well. And for me, honestly, is a big, big satisfaction because I have the honour to manage this unbelievable group. And I’m very, very proud to manage Ferrari on their comeback after 50 years. And to start with a pole position.
“It’s clear though that tomorrow is another day, the season is very long but to start with a Pole after just seven and a half months in preparation with this programme, I think that is a job very, very well done by the whole team involved with this amazing car.”
After a performance like that you must be thrilled to have Antonio Fuoco as part of this team?
“He was a big talent in Formula Two, and probably was unlucky in his career in some ways. In Formula Two he was in the same team at the same time as Charles Leclerc.
“Now though he has restarted his career and I’m sure that for him, the future will be full of success.
“This is important for Ferrari and for Italian Motorsport. I’m very happy to have three Italian drivers in our team. Because honestly, for our nation it is not an amazing moment in the sport because, in Formula One, we don’t have any drivers. With the long history of Ferrari and the Italian people in racing, I think that it needs to have a great Italian driver in one of the best cars.
“I’m therefore very happy to have won three important titles with Alessandro Pier Guidi in the last five years.
“To start this new and very significant era of endurance racing in this way is a very good moment. I hope it can help us to play a big part in the amazing future that lies ahead for the Championship.
It seemed to be a big surprise to Toyota that you had that level of performance?
“I am over the moon. This comes after an unbelievable amount of hard work by the whole team, working every day since the programme was started – including at Christmas.
“This is the best result to start this programme’s competitive life to reward all the staff that did some unbelieveably hard work.
“We are a very special group because without a real bond between these people, it would be impossible to dream of these results. Now we have to go and try to win the race!”
