Ferrari Finali Mondiali: Where the Red Machines live

If you’ve been fortunate enough to attend the Goodwood Festival of Speed, you’ll know the magic of that event doesn’t really lie in watching the cars blaze up the hill.

The truly gleeful part about Goodwood, and the thing that blows the minds of first-time visitors, is wandering through the paddock. There you’re just as likely to trip over a Singer 911, or happen upon 12 McLaren F1s parked casually on the lawn, as you are to accidentally graze shoulders with Derek Bell as he slides into a Porsche 917 Longtail.

The proximity and trust afforded at Goodwood feels alarming at first, especially for an Australian, who are usually barricaded from such precious things by velvet ropes and self-important people in high-vis vests.

45

But at Goodwood you could actually climb inside a priceless Le Mans winner if you really wanted to. The thing is, you don’t, because you can get close enough to touch, smell and hear the cars without taking such risks.

Even Goodwood, though, pales in comparison to what’s unfolding in front of me now. I’m standing at the back of a pit garage at Mugello and with the confident gesticulation that only an Italian can pull off, a man is slowly twirling his hand in the air, his index finger pointed to the sky.

He’s sat in scarlet F1 car from the early noughties — an F2004 if I had to guess — and on his signal the single-seater fires into life, a puff of blue smoke rising into the air as the engine catches and the long starter motor is withdrawn from its gizzards.

45

It feels slightly improper to be this close to one F1 car — I could reach out and touch the rear tyre — but sitting next to it is another, slightly newer example. And to the right of that car, lies another, this one an F2008 driven by Kimi Raikkonen.

All up, Ferrari has 19 Formula 1 cars at Mugello — almost an entire F1 grid — ranging from a Schumacher F1-2000 which won both world championships, to a hybrid-powered SF79H from 2017 that took Sebastian Vettel to victory at the Aussie GP.

They fire up in sequence, the high-frequency, sowing-machine smoothness of their V10 and V8 engines creating a wall of sound that almost drowns out what’s happening on the track itself. Almost…

45

Out there, on the other side of the pit wall, blast a fleet of limited-edition XX cars, the scream of their V12s ranging in and out of earshot as they navigate a circuit that’s still drying from some morning rain.

Wait for your ears to adjust — and for the F1 cars to settle into a lower idle — and you’ll begin to discern the different soundtracks of the various models. Enzos, side-piped 599 XXs, FXXK Evos…they’re all out there, dicing and diving in front of a crowd that should nudge 40,000 people.

Chances are you mightn’t have heard about Ferrari Finali Mondiali. I know I hadn’t, which is what makes this introduction to the event so surprising. Held in October every year, Finali Mondiali has been running since 1993 — coincidentally, exactly the same amount of time as Goodwood — and it is, first and foremost, the final round of the various Ferrari Challenge racing series run around the world.

45

It also acts as a grand final of sorts (Finali Mondiali translates as ‘world final’) for the quickest drivers in each championship who get the chance to race together for ultimate bragging rights.

The racing is hard and close and the grids are positively enormous. There are 105 Ferrari Challenge cars in attendance and while the category is clearly targeted at wealthy gentlemen drivers, there’s nothing gentlemanly about how they go about their race craft — this is sheep station stuff.

You might think having so many Ferraris in one place could get a little dull but there’s a dizzying amount of variety to gawk over. Club Competitzioni GT, for example, is a melting pot of GT racers from the last 30 years where a carbon-bodied 550 GT1 can bang doors with a box-fresh 296 GT3.

45

The category also includes a yellow 360 Challenge car that is so incredibly loud, it sounds like it’s fuelled by exploding fireworks as it trundles down the pitlane.

Then there are the Corse Clienti cars, which combine the XX program and Ferrari’s fleet of retired F1 prototypes. Both categories are a mix of old and newer machines and it’s intriguing to see how the XX concept has evolved from the boxy and wonderfully raw Enzo XX to the swoopier wedge of the 1050hp, hybrid-powered FXXK-Evo.

It’s the F1 cars that are the star of the show, however. Ferrari’s UK press officer proudly proclaims that only Ferrari could manage such an enormous fleet of old F1 cars “because we’re the only brand that has always made our chassis and the engine” and it is satisfying to see so many of the cars still being used.

45

They aren’t coddled, either. Red flags and spins are a regular occurrence and one poor sod had a rear tyre explode at full noise down the main straight.

The cars look quick, though, and some of the owners are clearly talented drivers willing to push their ultra-expensive toys to the limit. Exactly what it feels like to turn up at Mugello to find your own Michael Schumacher F1 car ready and waiting, and to then drive it on track with other famous F1 cars, is a mystery most of us will never experience.

Happily, of all the places in the world to watch F1 cars, Mugello has to be one of the best. Ferrari has owned the iconic circuit since 1988 and it has hosted Finali Mondiali 16 times. It’s a doozy of a track built in the bosom of a valley, so it’s brilliant to spectate at because the natural elevation means you can see several sections of the circuit from one vantage point.

45

The valley acts as a natural amphitheatre, too, so the sound of the F1 cars bounces off the surrounding mountains.

And the best bit? Spectating at Finali Mondiali is absolutely free, with the circuit’s outer extremities open to the public for four days. You’ll need to be a Ferrari employee to access the grandstands, however, and the paddock is reserved for employees and Ferrari Club members.

That’s the best place to drool over the cars, though, and the paddock also houses a gigantic exhibition hall that is basically a section of the Ferrari museum. The room houses 40 significant models, ranging from a 1948 166MM through to the reigning Le Mans winner, the 499P, which is still covered in its racing muck from the Circuit de la Sarthe.

45

Various F1 cars and older Le Mans cars feature, too, as does a blue 1987 F40 LM which recently sold for 4.8 million euros. The most expensive car in the room? A silver 250 GTO from 1962 that fetched 38 million a few years ago.

On Saturday night the cars fade into the background as the same space is used for a huge gala dinner. More than 1000 people attend and the night doubles as a prize giving ceremony for Ferrari’s various racing categories. It also provides an opportunity for a sneak peek at upcoming models.

This year that meant the unveiling of the 296 Challenge car and the 499P Modificata, the latter being a version of Ferrari’s Le Mans prototype pitched at gentlemen drivers. You could almost hear the room scramble for its cheque books as the silk cover came off, despite a $5.1 million euro asking price.

45

If you can only attend one day at Finali Mondiali, make it the Sunday. There’s plenty of on-track action and the whole event crescendos with the ‘Ferrari show’ which is a group shot of all the cars on the main straight.

If that sounds a bit tame, it isn’t, because before the cars line-up Ferrari sends them around the track for some demonstration runs. Again, it’s the F1 cars that put on the best show courtesy of high speed flybys and donuts in front of the packed main grandstand.

Then, once the cars are assembled and the photographer gets the shot, the crowd is treated to a flyover by the Tuscania Carabinieri paratroopers. Their gigantic blue chopper hovers over the main straight as paratroopers repel out of it to hand over the Italian tri-colour flag, Le Mans style, before a soprano singer belts out a rendition of the national anthem.

45

It’s overkill in the most spectacular way and, aside from a worrying few moments when it looked like the chopper might actually plow into the ground as it dipped its nose to fly away, it perfectly encapsulated the passion Italians have for Ferrari as a brand.

It’s easy to get a bit sniffy about Ferrari, to dismiss it as elitist, yet despite the obvious wealth on display at Finali Mondiali, there was also an authenticity I wasn’t expecting.

Ferrari is a brand that still places racing at its very core and at this event, just like at Goodwood, the cars and passion weren’t shuttered away — they were celebrated. If that sounds like your kind of thing, the next Finali Mondiali will be held at Imola from Oct 16-20, 2024.