Paddock Magazine had the chance to speak with Enrico Zanarini, founder and CEO of Media and Sports Management (MSM) during the Monaco Grand Prix. Enrico is a real specialist when it comes to driver management and sponsorship deals.
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Enrico Zanarini has several clients. Currently, the most popular driver managed by Enrico is Antonio Giovinazzi. Antonio made his F1 debut at the 2017 Australian Grand Prix. The Italian driver was forced to leave Alfa Romeo at the end of last year, but he became a reserve driver for Scuderia Ferrari in 2022.
How did you develop a passion for racing and motorsports?
My passion for racing started back in 1974 at Alfa Romeo. I was employed by them for 12 years. In the end, I became a marketing manager, and I was mainly responsible for the motorsport activities of Alfa Romeo. In 1986, I was supposed to lead the Alfa Romeo project in F1 – the plan was to become an engine supplier of Ligier. The deal was signed by Alfa Romeo and I became the leader of that project. Then, Mr Romano Prodi (former prime minister of Italy) sold Alfa Romeo to Fiat. As a result, Fiat took over the leadership of that project and they cancelled everything that was related to Formula 1.
Basically, I had to start everything from scratch because it’s always been my dream to get to Formula 1. I started to work for a small agency in Italy and I worked with Formula 3000 drivers. Actually, I learnt the ins and outs of the business at that agency. Later, I met Eddie Jordan at a motor show exhibition in Bologna and Eddie chose to work with me. I was mainly responsible for getting sponsors for his F1 team and we signed some pretty nice deals. In 1996, Eddie Irvine asked me to become his manager, and it allowed me to work with an F1 driver and work with Ferrari.
I convinced Stefano Domenicali to sign Giancarlo Fisichella for Ferrari.
Enrico Zanarini
Founder, Media & Sport Management
After that, I became manager of Giancarlo Fisichella, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Antonio Giovinazzi and I also worked with Nico Hülkenberg. In that respect, I’ve been in Formula 1 for over 30 years. Actually, I will celebrate my 500th Grand Prix this year – so I’m quite a veteran here, but I still enjoy doing it.
If you look back on your career, what’s your biggest achievement so far?
To be honest,…
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