Ferrari's new head of communications: Implications

Ferrari Press Officer Luca Colajanni reads a press release concerning the condition of their driver Felipe Massa of Brazil following his accident following qualifying for the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix at the Hungaroring on July 25, 2009 in Budapest, Hungary.

With the commencement of Ferrari‘s traditional year opening event, Wrooom, an important news that surfaced was the reassignment of Luca Colajanni, who was Scuderia Ferrari’s head of communications for F1. His job is now to take over the company’s communications for Europe as well as the Middle East which, according to Ferrari, includes India as well.

In Colajanni’s place, the new face that we shall see at race weekends this season talking to reporters will be Renato Bisignani, who previously held the post of Business Development Manager in the company. Before joining Ferrari, Bisignani worked for Renault F1.

Towards the end of last year, there seemed to be rifts inside the team. Around October, there was some tension between Fernando Alonso and Technical Director Pat Fry regarding no proper upgrades on the car since May. Then there was all the furore about Ferrari writing a letter to FIA regarding Vettel’s (according to Ferrari) illegal pass under yellow flags in Brazil, a few days after the championship deciding race finished. The board might not have wanted these matters to be handled in public as they were done, and as a result, Colajanni was made the scapegoat.

It is a common view that Luca Colajanni was a true example of the sheer passion that Ferrari emanates in its fans and employees. He handled Ferrari’s press and website affairs for well over a decade, and so it can be considered to be the end of an era and the exit from the F1 picture of one of the last few men belonging to the glorious Michael Schumacher period of the early 2000′s. Luca was quite a familiar face in the paddock and would be available for answers whenever Stefano Domenicali was busy during the race weekends. Some even believe that Luca was the man involved in writing the famed Horse Whisperer column.

We would be wrong to assume that the same passion would not be shown by Bisignani, but one thing we can be sure of is that the new guy will be of a more diplomatic nature like his father, who is a very powerful man with respect to the Italian government. Luigi Bisignani has had extremely strong connections with the top people in the government, and in the process, has also been involved in some criminal matters in the past.

Renato Bisignani shall be expected to have learned what to do and what not to do from his father’s activities, because if he gets involved in even the slightest of controversies, then Ferrari’s reputation and long-lasting legacy will be jeopardised. Thus, it will be a very big responsibility on those young shoulders.