Tuesday 21st January 2014

Brits to take over Ferrari?

OK, early days yet but UK graduates shine in search for Ferrari interns

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Fervent patriotic pride and Ferrari go together like parmesan on your pasta and living at home with your mum, to the extent you may be surprised to hear they do on occasion employ non-Italians among their ranks. The most recent public face of this was, of course, Rob Smedley, Felipe Massa's engineer whose no-nonsense northern tones on the pit-to-car radio were more Middlesbrough than Maranello and all the more amusing for it.

The next Smedley in waiting could be inbound

With Massa's departure Smedley has reportedly left Ferrari's F1 team too but the company as a whole has been recruiting for interns among its engineering and marketing departments and British graduates feature disproportionately highly among the 96 selected for video interview from over 5,000 applications. 18 graduates from UK universities including Cranfield Institute of Technology, LSE, UCL and both Oxford and Cambridge have been selected for video interviews over the coming days from which half will be summoned to Maranello and five will get six-month internships and open-ended contracts to follow.

So. If your own patriotic pride was taking a dent at JLR being in Indian ownership and the public voice of many iconic British brands having a thick German accent rest assured it's simply part of the merry-go-round international nature of the car business and in years to come there may be more Robs than Robertos at Ferrari.

Photos: Rob Smedley image by LAT Photo

[TREMAiNE]

So I could one day be head of Ferrari?

I could only dream!