Romania’s Ferrari importer Forza Rossa could be first Romanian team to compete in F1

Romania’s official Ferrari importer Forza Rossa could form a team to compete in the Formula One championship, starting next year. The company is currently expecting an official answer from the International Automobile Federation FIA, before announcing the next steps for the first Romanian participation in the Formula One, which is the top automobile competition of the world. “We have submitted a file to get the authorization from FIA to compete in the Formula One championship. We are waiting for their final decision before making any further announcement,” Bogdan Sonea, marketing manager for Forza Rossa told Romania-Insider.com. According to recent unofficial information released by the international auto media, Forza Rossa might have already got the approval from FIA’s governing body to compete in the Formula One championship as early as next year. Forza Rossa would be run by a team put together by Germany-based Romanian Colin Kolles, former team principal at Midland/Spyker/Force India and then HRT. “I can’t tell you more about any collaboration at the moment,” Sonea said. If this project comes to life, it would be good marketing not just for the company, but for Romania as well, given than each season only eleven teams compete in the Formula One championship. This is due to the high costs for setting up and running a team. This year, Marussia, which is currently the smallest F1 team, has a budget of EUR 60 million and some 200 employees, while for top teams like Red Bull or Ferrari, the budget is over EUR 400 million and has more than 700 people. “As this is a private project, in such a spectacular competition, it will definitely contribute to boosting Romania’s image abroad,” Sonea told Romania-Insider.com. Forza Rossa, which is owned by former Romanian health minister Ion Bazac, is the official importer for Ferrari luxury sports cars in Romania. The company posted EUR 7.6 million in sales for 2013, 11 percent lower than in 2012, and a net profit of more than EUR 100,000. However, company representatives say that number of units sold continued to grow. “Last year we sold 39 Ferraris, compared to 37 in 2012. Given that we managed to grow our sales, in volume, 5 to 8 percent each year, we expect to maintain this growth this year as well,” Sonea added. This would mean more than 40 Ferraris to be sold in 2014. Bazac also controls the Forza Rossa Store in Bucharest, which sells official Ferrari merchandise. The store’s sales were EUR 500,000 last year, 18 percent lower than in 2012. Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com