He has been the brain behind all of the Ferraris from the 456 GT to the FF, first as Technical Director and now as CEO. We get to know a little more about this highly focused individual and his passion for engineering and the cars he and his team create
The average person might wonder how it is possible that such a visible (red) and noisy (and we’re not just talking about Formula One) company could have such an unobtrusive and silent man at its helm as Amedeo Felisa. But then the contrast this engineer supplies is perfectly in tune with the company’s secret logic. Indeed, if Ferrari has such a strong and, at times, overbearing image, this is because in its home environment at Maranello everybody is working carefully, methodically and quietly in the constant search for excellence. Thus, alongside a strong, determined President, who is also a great communicator, stands a great engineer. Felisa was appointed CEO of Ferrari in March, and immediately brought the method and rigour that has served him so well throughout his life in the planning, developing and launching of sublime automobiles. he did this first at Alfa Romeo, but has been even more effective at Ferrari, which he joined as Technical Director in 1990. The company has changed a lot since then, but he has always risen to the challenge magnificently. We meet in Felisa’s office in the management building, just inside the historical entrance in via Abetone, at Maranello. a large desk with a meeting table before it provides the room’s centrepiece. Maria, his assistant – there from eight in the morning till eight in the evening – conducts the flow of human traffic. ‘every so often I escape, I don’t know where I’m going,’ Felisa declares mischievously. Actually, he knows perfectly well. He wants to find things out and see them first hand. He may be found in the Paintwork area, checking that everything is correct, or at the pilotino, the secret line where new model assemblies are learned and where everything must be checked and improved with a maniacal thoroughness.
Felisa might also slip off to try out some garishly camouflaged prototype that’s in development. By day, or more likely by night, so as not to be discovered by eager photographers after a lucrative scoop. The interest in Ferrari is intense. Right now he is in his quiet, softly lit office, in front of the computer. Before him is his beloved bowl of fruit jellies, the only remedy to a highly demanding job. ‘Do you still enjoy it?’ I enquire. he is perplexed: why wouldn’t he be enjoying himself, in the office at nine at night – he who loves to work? The fact is that he can no longer just immerse himself in inventing and developing new models. he must deal with everything from product to quality, from sales to marketing, from communication to human resources. As the man who introduced the F1 gearbox to road vehicles, invented the flat base with rear extractors to favour the ground effect, and was responsible for making Ferraris all-aluminium; who ‘invented’ the electronic differential (e-diff) on production vehicles and wanted carbon-ceramic brakes on all models, he seems almost to be wasting his time concentrating on anything else. and yet he embraces his new role, complete with startling new challenges. The environmental one is high on his list. ‘Our objective is to reduce consumption and emissions by 40 per cent by 2012. But that’s not enough,’ he asserts in his calm but determined fashion. ‘We should do more; we should draw on our Formula One experiences which, with the Kers [kinetic energy recovery system], will enable us to study energy recovery and introduce electrical devices also on road grand Tourers.’ Felisa talks naturally, looking ahead – he is always looking ahead. The engineer continually focuses on the future, just as he did the day he decided to create a new production plant at Maranello. ‘To ensure the highest quality, you have to take account of every angle and, if necessary, resolve problems,’ he muses. ‘The new assembly line building has been conceived in an entirely original way.
It is designed to be functional for those working in it, with a 60 per cent reduction of movements and the elimination of tiring operations, while, at the same time, incorporating processes that guarantee perfect mounting of the mechanical organs, organised by sub-assemblies, onto the bodyshell. engine, transmission, gearbox and suspensions pre-mounted on a special line, are transported with automatic trolleys – like virtuous, efficient robots – on the line parallel to the bodyshell fitting line.’ The definitive mounting process is thus more simple than in the past, guaranteeing the quality of the end result. ‘We won’t transfer existing models onto the new lines; they’ll stay on the traditional lines,’ Felisa explains. ‘Forthcoming models, on the other hand, will be designed to be built according to the logic that is at the basis of this new plant.’ asking Felisa to speak in public would be to play a trick on him. Not because he isn’t able to do it – on the contrary, he is an accomplished and pragmatic orator, even when communicating complex technical issues – but because he cannot be sure that his words will reach the target. He prefers to dedicate energy and attention to a client, a journalist or a supplier, because for him this is a useful, tangible, specific contact. And although the spartan lightness of race models fascinates him, if you get him to talk about the California, a creature he especially regards as his, you are sure to encounter the restlessness of the constant innovator. ‘This car is a real Ferrari, both in terms of performance and the many new features it has. It is the first Ferrari with direct injection, multi-link suspension and dual clutch combined with the Formula One gearbox. It is the ideal base from which to develop new models with far more extreme characteristics.’ Wherever the conversation leads, we always come back to automobiles – how they are designed and how they are made. Felisa, nevertheless, also dedicates a huge amount of energy to the other areas that his role as CEO demands.
He is capable of leaving on a Sunday afternoon to travel to China, to work there all day Monday, before catching a flight that sees him back in his office by midday on Tuesday. ‘I don’t like to repeat things I’ve already done,’ he says. ‘Work must be constantly evolving to be exciting.’ That’s why at Ferrari every model has new content and why the cars are designed according to different ways of building them; that’s the reason the sales department has been completely reorganised, and why more attention is given to clients – all of them, one by one.
While Luca di Montezemolo is the driver, full of flair and always ready to jostle out opponents, Felisa aptly represents the car: perfect, efficient, performing, reliable and top-quality. a car that is always in action. But is work enough, Felisa? ‘No, at the weekends I return home, to Milan, and in the evenings I go to the gym and, if possible, I read.’ It’s true, he is sometimes to be found in the gym at the Fiorano track, committed and hard-working as ever. But even here, when a brief respite from his responsibilities could be achieved, he’s still subsumed by Ferrari. But then, that’s Felisa.
PUBLISHED IN HOME, PEOPLE BY ANTONIO GHINI ON 04.13.2011
Credit: Ferrari S.p.A. (www.ferrari.com)
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