Enzo Ferrari’s death 33 years ago: the legend’s final emotional honor


Enzo Ferrari’s death 33 years ago
The final emotional honor for the legend

A life dedicated to motorsport: Enzo Ferrari was at the top for decades when his Scuderia went through ups and downs. Then he died during the Formula 1 summer break he hated, of all things. But just four weeks later, an emotional surprise followed at the home GP in Monza.

33 years ago Italy and an entire sport fell into collective mourning: Ferrari is Formula 1, Formula 1 is Ferrari – and somehow it was a good fit that the engines were idle on August 14, 1988. The great Enzo Ferrari died on a Sunday at the age of 90. A life for motorsport ended right in the middle of the summer break of the premier class.

Ferrari didn’t like this time of year very much, “he even hated it”, his son Piero once said: The Ferragosto, the summer vacation in Italy around August 15th, meant, above all, a standstill for Enzo Ferrari. And that didn’t fit into his world.

The son of a locksmith from Emilia-Romagna founded the Scuderia in 1929, his company grew and survived the Second World War. Road cars were also soon built in Maranello, but the fame was based on the racetracks.

Double victory for Scuderia shortly after death

Ferrari went through ups and downs, at the top for decades this man who contributed his part to the myth of the brand through his argumentative, unapproachable manner. Ironically in the last years of his life it became difficult for his racing team, from the beginning of the 1980s the unloved English private teams once again overtook the Reds.

On the day he died, the jumping horse was almost nine years without a title in the drivers’ championship. Enzo Ferrari was not allowed to celebrate a victory in 1988, McLaren-Honda drove the competition to the ground with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

But at least posthumously, the premier class still had something to offer one of its greatest. Exactly four weeks after his death it got emotional again: At the home game in Monza, of all places, Scuderia celebrated a double victory, Gerhard Berger ahead of Michele Alboreto. Every other race that year went to McLaren.

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