I used to hate Ferrari. Their Formula 1 team, their cars, heck, even the legacy around the brand.
During my childhood, I was rooting for Kimi Räikkönen and McLaren. Michael Schumacher just kept winning. In a Ferrari. I quietly hoped they would lose every Sunday!
When the holy trinity arrived, the McLaren P1, the Ferrari LaFerrari, and the Porsche 918, I already knew which side I was on. The 918 usually came out on top. But whenever the P1 beat the LaFerrari, those were the videos I kept going back to.
Then this afternoon I noticed a pattern.
Back in the day, on a random weekday afternoon my mum and I stopped at one of those roadside poster stalls. There were Ducatis, a few superbikes, and a bunch of supercars. And for reasons I still don't understand... I picked a Ferrari F50. That poster stayed on my wall for years.
Years later, after finishing the McLaren P1 LEGO set, I had almost twenty others sitting on my wish list. Somehow... I ended up buying the Ferrari SP3. Then the F40.
You with me with the pattern?
Because I didn't see it then either... I always thought Ferrari was never really my brand.
Then Ferrari unveiled the F80. And my first thought wasn't about the power, the hybrid system, or even the V6 engine.
It was... "That looks like what someone would sketch if you asked them to design an F40 today." Not a retro remake. Not a tribute. Just someone sitting in Maranello going... "Design me an F40, but pretend it's 2024."
Only later did I discover Ferrari's own designers had openly spoken about the F40 influencing the F80! Which made me smile a little, because it meant my first reaction wasn't completely random.
Then it finally clicked...
Somewhere between a roadside F50 poster, years of cheering for McLaren (even through the GP2 engine era), and seeing the F80 for the first time... I realized growing up wasn't about liking Ferrari. It was about finally appreciating why so many people already did.
P.S. Kimi eventually won his championship... Of course, at Ferrari!