180 | theceomagazine.coman F1 car and, for them, it is the best dream- to drive a Ferrari. To own a car like this,
and to drive it, and why not have one that
has the chassis that Schumacher won two
or three races with?
“All the cars have a history, you know, so
the value is amazing. Some of the cars have
even been signed by their drivers. They are
important pieces of motoring history, but we
make it possible for people to drive them.”
Coletta gives that particular Italian shrug
that means ‘You think this is amazing, but
for us it is nothing, because we are Italian.’
Corse Clienti has been running since
2003, and has sold a selection of its cars
going back to the 1980s.
What is perhaps more incredible than Ferrari
allowing its customers to play with its
most-prized toys (admittedly for a fee) is that
it lets them drive cars that are capable of
exceeding 300km/h, and of producing
G-forces strong enough to knock even
healthy humans unconscious.
I was once fortunate enough to ride in a
two-seater F1 car around Melbourne’s Albert
Park circuit, but to do so I had to hold a
dead-man’s button in my shaking hand. This
was a precaution, so that if I passed out my
finger would come off the button and a light
would come on in front of the driver, warning
him to slow down because his passenger
was no longer capable of bracing himself.
The experience was like being strapped
into a very small bullet train, which would
occasionally crash into brick walls (that’s
what the braking felt like) while being
rammed by rhinos on both sides (the
G-forces in the middle of long corners).
Most sane people wouldn’t want to drive
an F1 car even if they were allowed, and
Coletta admits it’s not for everyone, and that
Ferrari is quite choosy about who gets to
take part.DEAD-MAN’S
BUTTON
Antonello Coletta