“It might seem like a Kafkaesque scenario, but the affair relating to the name of the car with which Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa will tackle this year's Formula 1 World Championship saw its final and decisive episode played out these past few days with the concomitant withdrawal by Ford of the summons. Therefore common sense has prevailed,” wrote the columnist.
The car’s initial name was Ferrari F150, but in mid-February was changed to F150th Italia as a result of the legal proceedings issued by American carmaker Ford to the US District Court in Detroit.
This situation occurred because Ferrari’s car name and logo resembled Ford’s trademark for their line of pick-up trucks, the famous F-150. A couple of days back, Ford announced it has filed a notice with the US court for dismissal of the case, after it had reached an amicable agreement with their Italian counterparts.
“In order to avoid the slightest risk of anyone confusing a Formula 1 car with a pick-up truck, for their part, the men from Maranello have decided that the car will lose the F that precedes the number 150 and which stands for Ferrari, as it has done on numerous occasions when it's come to giving a car a code name, be it for the race track or the road,” added the Ferrari column.
“It appears that this could have caused so much confusion in the minds of the consumer across the Pond that, at the same time as losing the F, the name will be completely Italianised, replacing the English 'th' with the equivalent Italian symbol.”
"Therefore the name will now read as the Ferrari 150° Italia, which should make it clear even to the thickest of people that the name of the car is a tribute to the anniversary of the unification of our country.”
"Let's hope the matter is now definitely closed and that we can concentrate on more serious matters, namely ensuring that our car that already seems to be pretty good out of the box, becomes a real winner.”
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