Inspired by the one and only Gilles Villeneuve and founder Enzo Ferrari, Francesco Cigarini had a dream from an early age: to work for the Prancing Horse.
At the age of 25, after many gruelling sacrifices, his dream came true. For over two decades, Cigarini wore the most coveted suit in motorsport, the red one.
Working for the Scuderia, he had the opportunity to meet many drivers: from Schumacher to Leclerc, with Barrichello, Raikkonen, Massa, Alonso, Vettel and Sainz amongst them. Even today, he still has kind words to say about each of them.
In 2018, a serious injury proved to be the biggest obstacle of his life. Yet Francesco never gave up, and he returned to the track stronger than ever, showing the whole world what it means to “Essere Ferrari”.
The interview
FP: "Hello Francesco, thank you for being here with us. Let's start with your career, what you did to get to Ferrari and an explanation of the role of mechatronics engineer."
FC: "My pleasure. So, I started studying with the aim of understanding the technology behind a car, because I realised right away that I loved cars: that was what drove me, along with my passion for Formula 1. After studying, I started going to dealerships and workshops in the area to work and learn the trade, insisting on taking courses because at the time – we're talking about the 1990s – there was no YouTube... Information was not as easy to find as it is now, so in order to increase your knowledge, you had to have specific knowledge. Since I frequented Volkswagen and Audi dealerships a lot, and they are very knowledgeable in this area, I was able to take these courses. I also took a course with a BMW instructor, and from there I realised that, more than the mechanics itself, I liked understanding what the sensors, actuators, and control unit did... From there, I developed more of a desire to learn about mechatronics, which at the time was not called mechatronics, but later took on this name.
"Until, at a certain point in my career, I saw [the TV programme, ed.] 'Porta a Porta', where they presented the car: the famous episode where you can still see the videos of Montezemolo talking to Michael [Schumacher, ed.] on the radio and Michael joining the broadcast. That was the turning point, because I heard the interview; they interviewed my future colleagues and asked them how to get into Ferrari. They said, 'just send your CV', and that opened up a whole new world for me, because I said, 'ok, this could be an opportunity'. I said to myself, 'when I'm 40, I won't regret never having written to Ferrari'. So I sent my CV and they replied within 8/9 days. We had interviews, or rather, I had medical examinations, psycho-aptitude tests and then an interview about gearbox hydraulics, during which they told me I could decide [whether to join the team, ed.], and I said no, because I had been told that with gearbox hydraulics I would never get on the track. I said, 'I can't join Ferrari and give up my ambition to work on the track'.
"After a few months, they called me in for an interview about electronics and wiring... They confirmed my position, and on my 25th birthday – which was 29 July 1999 – I signed my contract to join Ferrari. A nice birthday present, that. Then from there you start trying to understand by getting to know the wiring, how it is used in motorsport, what the very precise procedures are to follow, the type of materials, knowledge of the electrical system, who does what, which actuator does this or that... Then you get a general idea of what the car is, and from there there are other things that are part of the car, but not really part of the electrical system, to discover, as well as working with colleagues and all those dynamics. I remember that I used to stay there a lot [at the factory, ed.], because I didn't have a family there, so I preferred to spend my time understanding what everything was, so I had to stay at the factory and at the time we stayed there until the bitter end. I could use these hours to learn more, at a more leisurely pace... In the evening, there were also fewer people in some cases, so you could see things more calmly."
FP: "You mentioned the importance of understanding every sensor in minute detail. I won't ask you to explain them, but I will ask you this: how much pressure did you feel working for Ferrari? You know, knowing that every little thing you do can have an impact on the car, especially when things on the track don't live up to expectations... We know that Ferrari is always seen as the best team and when it doesn't win, there's always a mountain of criticism. How did you deal with that psychologically?"
FC: "Psychologically, I knew this, but I was driven by a great passion and desire to do well. I told myself, 'Do the best you can in the moment, because life is full of ups and downs, so you won't regret not giving it your all. There was pressure, of course, but we put it on ourselves, the lads of that time. Everyone knew they had to give their best to make the whole mechanism work.
"[The pressure, ed.] I felt it most when I had to work with Michael [Schumacher, ed.] for the first time. I knew he had 360-degree vision and saw everything. As a newcomer, I wanted to be worthy of “Being Ferrari” [which has become the team's slogan in recent years, ed.] and of working with a world champion. A negative judgement from him would have brought the whole house of cards crashing down. That's when I felt the pressure more. Then, getting to know him, while always maintaining high concentration, you manage the pressure when you realise that he knows you are part of the team, that you have become part of the mechanism. At the beginning, it's always a bit tough because, in addition to wanting to be accepted by engineers and colleagues - as a capable person, someone who can give something extra in terms of work on the track - you also had to be accepted by Michael, Rubens [Barrichello, ed.], and Badoer. I had this thing with Michael because he was world champion, but the concentration was high in all cases, because they made you keep it high. You could never let your guard down."
FP: "You mentioned Schumacher in particular, but you have worked with many top drivers at Ferrari. What is one characteristic that stood out to you about each of them?"
FC: "Well, Rubens [Barrichello, ed.] was a great driver and much more cheerful and sociable than he appeared on the outside, but always a consummate professional. He had a Brazilian spirit and was very playful.
"Michael [Schumacher, ed.] was the consummate professional and champion who looked at every detail with 360-degree vision; he was a role model.
"Then I can say that Felipe [Massa, ed.] was a driver who, in order to give his best, had to be “pampered”. During Felipe's time, I learned to pay attention to every detail and also to do everything possible to put him in the right conditions to drive, both with the set-up of the steering wheel and everything else. He needed to feel part of a team, and Felipe's team was very close-knit and supportive, especially during the period when Fernando [Alonso, ed.] was there, from whom he felt pressure.
"Fernando was a divisive figure in the pits at the time, in the sense that he was a superstar. But it wasn't that he didn't know who I was because I didn't always work directly on his car. People in the team bond, they know who you are, so I would say he was a huge focal point, but a great champion, a real cannibal. A cannibal to the nth degree.
"Then let's talk about Sebastian [Vettel, ed.], who had many of Michael's characteristics. We're talking about two different periods. Michael also had a marked humanity, but with Sebastian this humanity came out in an explosive way, partly because he always wanted to exchange a few words with us, he knew everyone's names and sometimes stopped to chat more than he should have. When he was testing the car, during the first few days of the shakedown [at the start of the season, ed.], I tried to find 30 seconds to look him in the face and ask him, “How's the car?”. From there, I knew how it was, for better or worse, because he clearly gave me a lot of his impressions.
"Then we have Charles [Leclerc, ed]: a huge talent, a huge one. I knew him when he was little and I loved him right away, partly because he was what we had been missing with Jules Bianchi [a driver who grew up in the Ferrari Driver Academy and died in 2015 due to a tragic accident at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, ed]. Unfortunately, we suddenly lost a friend, a leading driver, and then we found him [Leclerc, ed.], who could rekindle this hope. I won't deny that we saw a lot of Jules in Charles: he is a huge talent, also an explosive talent that needed to be tamed over the years, because you have the talent but you have to work hard on the team, on letting them know what you want, on being able to work and make the tyres work. These are all aspects that you find over time, by working.
"Carlos Sainz is a very complete driver because he has a wealth of experience with many teams and is very intelligent in understanding and making himself available to the team. Williams made a great move in signing him because he is someone who, even if he is being beaten on the track by Albon, gives the team something extra in terms of knowledge and vision.
"Kimi [Raikkonen, ed.] is a big-hearted person, but he is fundamentally distrustful, so you have to treat him well, you have to know how to handle him. Let me say, he's like an animal, very instinctive: he sniffs you out, he hates “political games”, especially at the racing level. He wants to compete, these forms of politics bother him a lot and in fact, throughout his career, he has been bothered by these things. Now, while visiting Lake Garda, I happened to see him outside a bar with his family and I said hello. We hugged, we talked about what he was doing, about his son, so he's really a very nice person. If you meet him, it's clear that he's out of the competition now, he's a different person, maybe more relaxed, but basically he's an animal who sniffs out who he's dealing with, and he's someone who hates politics, or all these people who hang around them like parasites, not that he hates them, but he wants to chase them away. He doesn't find comfort in all this, so he's always a bit prejudiced against people, so you always have to find the right way [to interact with him, ed.]."
FP: "You also had an unpleasant incident with Kimi, breaking your leg during a pit stop at the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix. Can you tell us what happened and how you recovered from it?"
FC: "First of all, I saw some comments on a few videos, and I want to make it clear that it wasn't my fault: I had been in that position for 10 years, so I trusted the mechanism, the system [of the pit stop, ed.]. A system that was implemented with something that probably didn't work as it should have at that moment, so it allowed the rear jack to be released from the driver and he unknowingly released the clutch.
"I remember seeing the car go down, the wheel turn, and I tried to get out... But as soon as I saw the car go down, everything went dark. I got up and saw my broken leg. It was a shock. Then I took off my helmet and earphones because everything around me was disturbing, and from there a new challenge began: I had to recover.
"I accepted the injury without really knowing what the consequences might be, because during my recovery, the doctor said to me at one point, 'from now on, we've averted the danger of leg amputation'. I didn't know that, so I said, 'What?' She explained that in cases like this, the body often stops recognising the leg as an extension and stops supplying it with nutrients, effectively giving up on it. Hearing that was a shock, but it was good that she told me after [the risk of amputation had been averted, ed.].
"The challenge was to try to get back on track, because I didn't want my last image with Ferrari to be lying down. I also wanted to show what Ferrari's values are and how hard you have to work to be worthy of being a Ferrari man. My goal was to show both the people within Ferrari - my colleagues and my bosses - and my family that I had accepted the challenge and that I had to be as ambitious as possible in order to make a full recovery. That was the goal.
"I have to be proud of myself and I have to show that I was a Ferrari man, a man who accepts challenges. During my recovery, in the second or third month, I remember the doctor who was treating me telling me that my tibia wasn't healing, but my fibula was. He had to operate to fix this, so I went back, I “regressed” in my rehabilitation, and so it took me even longer."
FP: "But in hindsight, it was worth coming back to fight and coming out on top... Would you do everything you did in the same way?
FC: "Absolutely."
FP: "We talked about Charles [Leclerc, ed.], you told us many nice things about him. I wonder if, after his seventh year at Ferrari, he is gradually coming to the conclusion that he might not win in red: could the day come when he says 'I tried, I'm moving to another team'?"
FC: "It's possible, but in my opinion, his thinking is, 'What if I change teams and in a year or two Ferrari puts the car I need to win the World Championship on the track? Then you have to see what alternatives you have and how certain you are about those alternatives.
"I asked myself the same question when I decided to leave: 'What if the next one is the right one and we start winning again? But at a certain point, I made my choice, so he could make the choice [to leave, ed.]. I don't see it as feasible for now, but I'll tell you that in my opinion, the question you have to ask yourself is: 'What if I finally leave everything I want from the car and it comes the following year?
FP: "Are you saying that his regret at not winning with Ferrari could be much greater than his regret at not winning a World Championship in his career?"
FC: "Yes, but it depends on how he feels within Ferrari, because if, for example, he realises that the feeling he once had is no longer there, at some point he will have to leave, but I don't think that's the case at this point. He has the lofty ambition of bringing the title to Ferrari and he is doing it for himself, because it's a path he wanted to take and he has embraced it completely."
FP: "On the other side of the pit, Hamilton is certainly not having an easy time of it. Do you think next year's new rules could also be a mental reset for him in terms of competitiveness?"
FC: "Every rule change is an opportunity for someone who hasn't been able to seize it before. His experience and understanding of the new way of driving could help in some way, but he needs to have an efficient car. He is used to a car that behaves in a certain way, thanks to both him and the technical team. A car that gives him confidence, not as extreme as today's Ferrari. A more solid car, more “honest” in its behaviour.
"He has a champion in house [Leclerc, ed.] who has a lot of experience, so I think it could be a mental reset for him, but I don't know how ambitious [Hamilton, ed.] is in imposing his way of being at Ferrari and how well or accurately he is received, I don't know that. From the statements he makes from time to time, it's as if he's sounding the alarm bell."
FP: "If you were part of the team today, what would you think as a member of Ferrari about Hamilton's statements?"
FC: "If you're inside the team, you know the dynamics that might help you understand better why he says that. From the outside, I can say that he demands a lot from himself and from those around him. I posted something [on Instagram, ed.] a little while ago because I was thinking about this situation and it occurred to me that one thing that worked very well for Hamilton [at Mercedes, ed.] – and which doesn't exist at Ferrari – is someone like Niki Lauda: someone who acts as a link between the team and the driver, conveying what Hamilton wants in a slightly less blunt manner. Someone who acts as a spokesperson and acts as a glue between the whole team and the driver: that was what Lauda could do well and what was good for Hamilton."
FP: "I know that your favourite driver was Gilles Villeneuve. Having worked at Ferrari, how much would you have liked to meet him? If you had had the opportunity, what would you have said to him?"
FC: "First of all, I would have told him that everything [my relationship with Ferrari, ed.] started with him and Enzo Ferrari, with those two. I recently saw a photo of Gilles Villeneuve eating with some people, and three of those people worked with me, but at least two of them have passed away.
"My regret was not sitting down to talk about those times in depth; when I saw the photo and saw that they were there, I said to myself, 'Damn, with all the work, work, work, I didn't take the time to get to know better who was close to him at that time and who he [Villeneuve, ed.] was.
"Then I also met Jonathan Giacobazzi, who is the son of the family that sponsored and welcomed Gilles, so they told me something. They know that I have this myth that ignited my passion: he was the spark that started it all."
FP: "This year, you have been a guest on Sky's “Race Anatomy” programme several times. In an episode in which you were not present, the commentators were asked who would win the World Championship between Piastri and Norris, and above all why. So I'll ask you the same question."
FC: "I'm not sure that the one I say will win, but that's the one I hope will win, and Norris. He's a driver who basically thinks outside the box because he's a cheerful guy, and I really like people like that, a bit like Ricciardo.
"Then [Norris, ed.] is a driver who has shown his vulnerability. He said, 'I have these weaknesses, I'm not a superhero, this is who I am, I'm a person who demands a lot from himself. I make mistakes, but this is who I am'. But what happens? If you show your vulnerability, you give someone like Piastri the chance to attack you two laps from the end by kamikaze-ing [as happened in Hungary, ed.], thinking “he's afraid of physical contact, he'll move over and I'll get in”. It's like bleeding in the middle of a tank of sharks. It's nice of him to say “okay, look, I'm bleeding”, but you're facing sharks that have a [cannibalistic, ed.] instinct."
FP: "Last question: what would you say to a young person who dreams of working at Ferrari? What advice would you give them?"
FC: "First of all, they must have passion and they must know that when a dream comes true – like working at Ferrari – there is sacrifice involved, so it's not all roses and sunshine. To make your dream come true, in any field, you have to sacrifice a lot of other things: time, friendships, lots of things you'd like to do; also because you travel, you have to deal with time zones...
"One of the things I can say is that when your dream comes true, it's not like the Mulino Bianco family: you have to work hard, you have to be focused, capable and keep the pressure on even when you don't want to. When your car breaks down between PL3 and qualifying, you're under a lot of pressure... These things happen, and it's a lot of pressure because you say, “if I fail, we'll miss qualifying”. I remember very well that once it happened to us with Vettel [at the 2019 German Grand Prix, ed.], who didn't qualify because we weren't able to solve a problem.
"You have to be determined and accept many things that, when you're in the thick of it and all eyes are on you, always fill you with passion. And they require a lot of sacrifice."
FP: "I am speechless, Francesco. Thank you very much for your time and for everything you've shared with us."
FC: "Thank you."
P.N. We would like to thank Francesco Cigarini for his kindness and willingness to participate in this interview. Partial reproduction of this exclusive interview is permitted provided that the author (Fabrizio Parascandolo) and the source FormulaWebMagazine.com are cited with a link to the original content.
Main cover photo www.instagram.com
