It was the racing race and a unique showcase for the team Ferrari gain muscle. His star pilot was Alfonso de Portago, a Spaniard with a noble title and an adventurous spirit whoand wanted to revalidate a historic feat that year 1957. It was the first Spanish driver to get a podium in Formula 1. Only Fernando Alonso achieved it again 50 years later.

But the shadow of tragedy hung over the Mille Miglia. Several of his most promising drivers had recently died driving the world’s most powerful cars in races or testing them on the road course. J.uan Manuel Fangio, Peter Collins and Mike Hawthorn They added to that black list.

A Chronicle of a Death Foretold

The Spanish from Portagoalong with his good friend and co-pilot, Edmund Nelson, the Mille Miglia started on May 12 from Brescia at 5:31 in the morning (which is why he wore number 531). In that marathon race that traveled the complicated Italian roads from Brescia to Rome and returning to Brescia he became a death trap.

The technicians of Ferrari They told him that he had a damaged wheel and when there were about 70 kilometers left to go, northwest of Mantua, the Ferrari 335S of Portago and Nelson suffered a tire burst at more than 250 km/h, with fatal outcome. In addition to the pilots nine spectators lost their lives, five of them were children, while another 30 people were injured. The tragic accident went down in history as la Tragedy of Guidizzolo.

“It may sound sentimental, but I think that we drivers are very close to death every Sunday, so that’s why I think we appreciate life more”

One of the phrases spoken by de Portago in an interview before he died can help us imagine what it meant to get into those cars. “It may sound sentimental, but I think we drivers are very close to death every Sunday, so that’s why I think we appreciate life more.” They had to drive at heart-stopping speeds. without seat belt or restraint measures A test on the circuit could mean death without any road safety system.

The fiction of Michael Mann

The new movie Michael Mann puts the focus on those black years of the team. “Driving then was literally dangerous,” emphasizes the director. One of the team’s biggest challenges was rebuild cars. It was a real work of craftsmanshipwith engineers replicating by hand the original models from the 50s. Some are in the house museum, but others had to be manufactured from the plans and documentary material that is preserved.

One of the biggest headaches was apply security systems to meet 21st century standards and have a safe ride but without modifying the chassis and the appearance of the vehicles. The head of special effects explained at a press conference that they built a special seat belt in the shape of a harness with five grip points that was hidden under clothing. But they also used visible belts and restraints to which they applied a dotted line so that it could later be erased in post-production.

The film manages to perfectly reflect the Enzo’s personal universethe creator of Ferrari, who gives life Adam Driver. It shows a key moment to understand the business model that the Maranello house adopted the year in which they were on the verge of bankruptcy because participation in high-level races could not be sustained.

The role of Laura Ferrari

That same year, in addition, it came to light that Enzo Ferrari has an illegitimate son, who today is director of the firm. His wife and co-owner of the firm, Laura Ferrarihas to deal with being the last to find out about such a scandal with her husband making headlines in the media.

Penelope Cruz She plays that dark Laura Ferrari immersed in drama, who after having lost her son witnesses how her life and her company fall apart. “Her only incentive was the company, it was like the common child that they both had left, and she also suffers from the machismo that surrounded her,” says the actress.

To understand that darkness and Laura’s complex character He traveled to the real settings where the protagonist lived, who has gone down in history as the woman from ‘Il commendatore’. She lived in the same house, researched the recipes she cooked and empathized with the suffering of that woman who was branded as having a sour and difficult character. “I was with Michael Mann in the apartment where she lived and that impressed us a lot because you really walked in and felt the strong depression she had,” says Penélope Cruz. They got to film in real settings like the cemetery with the tomb of Dino Ferrarihis son who He died when he was only 20 years old..

The film rescues the forgotten memory of the woman who made the finances of the Ferrari house shine and shine in a time full of shadows.