The history of Formula 1, after all, is a beautiful Italian novel. It is written in black and white by Umberto Zapelloni in his new book “Formula Italia” (66thand2nd Publisher, 168 pages, 18 euros) and he does it with the same irony and passion that for years have made him one of the most authoritative voices in Italian motorsport.
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The tricolor on the cover
The cover, a red-green collage of drivers, helmets, cars and tricolor flags, is already a whole program. In the center, the Prancing Horse, the Alfa Romeos and the Maseratis that marked the dawn of the Circus. Around, the faces of those who transformed the top series into a wholly Italian epic: from Alberto Ascari, the last “pure” world champion before the long drought, to Mario Andretti – born in Montona when Istria was still Italian – up to the young Kimi Antonelli, the new dream of the fans.
The historic moment
The book comes out at a perfect time. While Ferrari is in eternal rebirth and Antonelli dominates behind the wheel of the Mercedes, Zapelloni delivers to readers a work that is not the usual chronicle of races and standings, but a true popular novel of motorsport. «Just don’t tell the English who invented it», the author jokes from the first lines, «but then they had to wait until 1958 to see one of their drivers become world champion. Obviously behind the wheel of an Italian car».
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The idea of the book
It is the strong thesis of the volume: the first thirty races in F1 history were dominated by Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Maserati. Three of the first four world champions were Italian. The fourth, Juan Manuel Fangio, raced in Europe precisely thanks to the Italian “bridge.” Then came the drought, but not the decline: because Italy continued to dominate not only on the track but also behind the scenes – engineers, mechanics, tire specialists, designers, press officers. Zapelloni tells it with a lively style, rich in anecdotes and that mix of pride and nostalgia that only those who have lived the paddock can convey. From the “Made in Italy” that has always been a guarantee of quality, through technical innovations, daring challenges, pioneering adventures, to the human stories of “small great heroes and heroines” who left their mark.
Love for the Red
The book is also an act of love towards Ferrari («painted Ferrari red») and towards that deep feeling that binds Italians to Formula 1: a love that goes beyond world titles and that, today as yesterday, ignites every time a tricolor single-seater leaves the pits. Thus “Formula Italia” becomes a book for those who love stories of passion, redemption, national pride. Because, as Zapelloni writes, in the paddock «we have always been protagonists». And this book proves it, page after page. Because Formula 1, in the end, is – and remains – an Italian affair.
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