Translator: Ellie Wilson Reviewer: Giorgia Borsellino
Good evening, everyone.
To start, I wanted to share
a phrase used
by Lyndon Johnson
a few days after the assassination of President Kennedy.
He stood in the US Congress
and said, “I would give everything
for him to be here talking to you instead of me.”
This is how I feel tonight.
I was lucky to meet Antonia Terzi
and I can tell you that she too, in her small and big actions,
like John F. Kennedy, thought about the new frontier.
The new frontier of a woman
who dared to do what had always seemed unthinkable.
And if you have the patience to follow my story,
you might understand why I use these possibly bold comparisons.
I think you are all aware
that motor racing, particularly Formula 1,
is a world that is inherently male-dominated.
If you look at photos of races spanning across a century,
you will never find female figures in roles of responsibility.
I’m not just talking about racers, which you could reply
with some smart remark about female drivers.
I’m talking at a managerial, design,
and engineering level.
If there was a field
in which women were strictly limited
to being almost a token presence,
this would definitely be the world of motor racing.
I started to go to circuits very early
because of my passion and craft,
and the women at the racetracks were the wives or partners of drivers,
or, a bit later, the women who worked
in public relations and communication.
It was completely out of the question
to think that a women could be
among all those men
in a high power position
involving the most sophisticated technological skills.
Now, I want you to imagine a little girl
who attended the scout group in Lower Modena.
This was Antonia, who should have been here tonight instead of me.
Imagine that little girl
who said to everyone around her,
“I want to work with cars.
“I want to design cars.
“I want to be the manufacturer
“of Formula 1 cars, the epitome of speed.”
I assure you,
because I have had the pleasure of being told her stories,
that while she nurtured these dreams, surrounded by her wonderful family,
she was surrounded by skepticism.
Her friends would say to her,
“What? A woman designing a Ferrari?”
Maybe for a piece of homework.
Maybe for an illustration to hang up at carnival.
But not in the real world,
where they are all men.
All of them.
So, I think when we talk about the new frontier,
and setting examples for everyone,
the example Antonia set involves the following:
that glass ceiling, as the Americans call it,
that usually even today, in our society
is a type of unbreakable roof for women,
could be shattered into pieces. As guess what happens next in this story?
This little girl studies.
She gets her degree in engineering and doesn’t stop there.
She doesn’t think about showcasing the qualification
but she keeps going instead.
Because what she used to say as a girl, as a little girl scout,
that one day, one day, she would design Ferraris,
was something she wanted to become true. She wanted it to become a reality.
And at some point, what happens?
Well, more or less 20 years later, we find ourselves in the golden age,
as it was the time of the Ferrari of Montezemolo, Todt, Schumi, and so on.
I was at a Grand Prix in Hockenheim, Germany,
and I remember there being a girl
wearing headphones,
the famous ones they use to suppress the sound of cars at the Grand Prix.
She was in the Ferrari paddock, in the Ferrari garage.
I must say, as a male chauvinist, or rather, a member of that world,
I instinctively assumed she was another communications officer,
because generally, women in Formula 1 used to do that
and, might I add, still largely do today.
if you watch Hamilton or Verstappen, you don’t see many female engineers
in the Mercedes or Red Bull box.
But I got curious about this person, this presence, and so,
I started to gather information and, to my utter surprise, was told,
“No, it’s not a communications manager.
“She is one of the aerodynamics engineers
“of Michael Schumacher’s red car
“the one winning every possible race.”
That’s how I made this beautiful and unbelievable discovery.
That famous glass ceiling
which is a constant obstacle, even today in our society,
had been shattered by someone in the male chauvinist world
of motor racing.
This is what Antonia Terzi did.
If you’re ever scrolling on Youtube or something and you go and see
Schumacher’s car that would win everything
which we all reminisce about today,
because, unfortunately, today, you can’t call Ferraris competitive,
watch it and remember that those fantastic, sensational,
efficient lines were traced by Antonia
who, without any advice
but with the sheer strength of her passion,
skill and culture alone,
did this
in the name of all women, I think.
When we talk about progress, society,
the end of marginalization, equality, and so on,
these are all great buzzwords.
But, we need examples of concrete things and genuine examples
that support these buzzwords.
Antonia Terzi did just that.
She did it in the best known Italian firm in the world.
And she truly did it well.
She then went to work for their competition
as Williams gave her a call and she went there.
She was the head engineer at Bentley, and so on.
So I want to tell you this,
and I wish she could be here to tell you it in person.
Kennedy’s new frontier,
near here, between Lower Modena, Fiorano and Maranello,
has already been crossed. It was crossed not long ago.
A course was plotted, and every year,
whenever I have to look after a new race car,
I ask, “how many women have worked on this car?”
Not just on communication, timekeeping,
following conversations on chats or WhatsApp, and stuff like that.
No. Women who tried to make this car better,
like Antonia Terzi could.
This is a very important lesson. It is a testimony to life
which I hope does not remain an end in itself.
As I’ve said, I particularly hope that it becomes an example,
or, as it’s Christmas, a shining star to follow
for all the girls that maybe even today are members
of boy scout groups or who dream of being able to have a leading role
in a world that must stop being dominated
by male chauvinist rule.
This is what Antonia Terzi taught.
This is what I think she would want to tell you tonight.
And I apologize for unworthily substituting her.
but it has truly been a huge pleasure
spending this time and dedicating a few words to her memory.
Thank you.
(Applause)