Ferrari Drivers Play Football in "Partita del Cuore"

Prior to this weekend's Turkish Grand Prix, the entire team of Ferrari was part of a much bigger event back in Italy, namely the “Partita del Cuore” (Game of the Heart). Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella were all actively involved in the football match, which was played for fundraising purposes on the Modena Stadium.

The three Ferrari drivers were part of the Telethon team, who played against the Nazionale Cantanti (Italian singers' team) in a match to remember. The former eventually won by a single goal (12 – 11), but the most important thing was that the grandstands of the stadium were full of people (120,000) ready to contribute to the Telethon Foundation.

The Nazionale Cantanti was headed by captain Eros Ramazzotti, while the Telethon Team was coached by Roma's trainer Claudio Ranieri, helped by assistant Stefano Domenicali (Ferrari's team principal). Other important figures that took part in the event were Ferrari's president Luca di Montezemolo and Piero Ferrari.

“Thanks to them (people in the grandstands) and to donations sent by phone text, Telethon reached a total figure of over a million Euros. And those donations are still on-going today, as the 45503 number is still up and running ready to take more text message donations,” said a statement from Ferrari on Thursday.

From those one million Euros, part will go to Fondazione Parco of Mistica Onlus “set up to create a sports facility through Legalita e Solidarieta, a centre to promote culture and at the same time operate as a centre for retraining and recuperation on the 33 hectare site “Tenuta della Mistica” close to the Rome ring road.”