Enough time has passed since the announcement of the death of Pope Francis early Monday morning. There have been many expressions of condolences from major institutions around the world, but surprisingly, the Italian racing team Ferrari, has not commented on the pontiff’s death.
The death of Pope Francis
Pope Francis died on Monday at around 7:30 a.m., and his death was announced two hours later by Cardinal Farrell, the Vatican chamberlain. Jorge Mario Bergoglio died at the age of 88, and since February he had been suffering from a complicated medical condition that had kept him out of public life for several weeks. However, his recovery seemed to be going well, as evidenced by his appearance the day before at Easter Sunday Mass, one of the most important dates in the Catholic Church calendar.
Pope Francis had been hospitalized for 37 days and was discharged on March 23. During this month, his public appearances had been limited, and although it was clear that his health was far from the best, every day he seemed to be regaining his energy. His death early Monday morning took everyone by surprise. According to reports from the Vatican, the Pontiff’s death was due to a stroke, “Cerebrovascular accident, coma, irreversible cardiovascular collapse,” “He had an irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse,” the report said. After twelve years as Pope, his influence on the Church, his approachable manner, and his way of seeing the world made him one of the most controversial pontiffs, with many faithful followers but also many voices against him for straying from the more traditional values of the Catholic Church.
Ferrari has not commented on the Pope’s death
Since the announcement of his death, expressions of sympathy and condolences for the death of the Pontiff have poured in from all over the world. From governments, other political institutions… and also from sporting institutions. However, the Italian racing team with great influence around the world, Ferrari, has not commented on the death of Francis.
Ferrari’s drought with Pope Francis
The truth is that, during these 12 years of papacy, Ferrari has gone through, and continues to go through, the longest title drought in its history in F1. The Italian team has not managed to reach the top of the grand prix circuit since 2008. That year, they won the constructors’ championship, but saw Felipe Massa lose the drivers’ championship in the last corner to Lewis Hamilton.
Since then, they have only come close to winning the Drivers’ Championship with Fernando Alonso, who saw the title slip away, also in the final laps of the last race. After the Spanish champion, the bet was on Sebastian Vettel, who had just reigned with Red Bull, but he didn’t have the car to win the championship either. Leclerc is Ferrari‘s bet to win the coveted championship and, now, after the departure of Carlos Sainz, they are confident that Hamilton can win his eighth world title in red, something that seems almost impossible after a poor start to the season.
Ferrari and the Popes
We review the titles that Ferrari has won with the Popes since the creation of the F1 team.
Pope Pius XII (1939-1958):
- Ascari (1952, 1953
- Fangio (1956).
Pope John XXIII (1958-1963)
- Phil Hill and the first constructors’ championship (1961).
Pope Paul VI (1963-1978)
- Surtees and Lauda won multiple titles.
Papacy of John Paul II (1978-2005)
- Schumacher’s titles.
Papacy of Benedict XVI (2005-2013)
- Constructors’ championship in 2008.