Customer No. 1: Interview with Raffaele de Simone

Pista di Fiorano – Enzo Ferrari’s home turf. This is where he once sat at his desk overlooking the track, watching his cars lap by. A famous photograph shows him standing by the guardrail in a suit, tie and sunglasses, beside a young Luca Cordero di Montezemolo and a certain Andreas Nikolaus Lauda in a pale blue racing overall. To this day, every new model must prove itself here before it’s allowed to leave the factory. This is where everything that’s merely good is separated from what’s truly Ferrari.

On this day, the sun burns over Emilia-Romagna, the asphalt shimmers, cicadas buzz. Raffaele de Simone comes out to greet us. For the past two decades, he has tested every Ferrari road car and near-production race car – even the gardener’s lawn mower. Yes, really. He likes to drift it around the grass now and then like a disobedient schoolboy. “It works amazingly well,” he laughs. “Nothing to improve there – just pure fun.” A stern glance from the PR woman. A bottle of water, a coffee and about an hour – that’s what de Simone can spare us on this weekday.

Signor de Simone, who are you?

A tough question right off the bat! I’d say I’m a sensitive guy who never really grew up – someone who still likes to play with toys, only that those toys are cars. I turned my passion into a profession. I’m a former racing driver – I ended my active career in 2007 – and since then I’ve devoted myself entirely to developing new vehicles, both homologated and non-homologated ones, except for Formula 1 and endurance cars – those belong to other departments at Ferrari. In 2010 I also completed an engineering degree in vehicle technology.

They call you Customer Number 1. What does that mean to you?

It has two meanings. On the one hand, I’m the very first person to drive a new model – often two or three years before it hits the market. In a way, I’m the prototype customer who gives the engineers honest, unfiltered feedback before outside influences come into play. That’s strategically valuable for Ferrari. And I’m the most difficult customer you could imagine. Sometimes I want to be the fastest, sometimes I expect maximum comfort – like someone with three kids doing the morning school run. I represent all those different customer types rolled into one. That makes life challenging – and incredibly exciting – for the developers.

So as a former racer you have to meet expectations that have little to do with motorsport?

Absolutely. Less than ten percent of my time is spent taking a Ferrari to the limit. The other ninety percent are much more interesting – that’s where it’s about making a car feel alive in everyday use. A Ferrari has to retain its identity everywhere – on cobblestones, in city traffic, even in heavy congestion. It’s not just about performance – it’s about character.

→ Read the full interview in the new ramp #69 "More Than Machines"!