Jean Todt too underlined the intensity and emotion of the meeting with John Paul II. ‘We were all silent at the energy and humility of the Holy Father. Whatever one’s religion is, the Pope is a great example in life’.

Like Todt, Michael Schumacher too was struck by the great force of the Holy Father. ‘It was unique to come here with all my Ferrari friends’, declared Michael. ‘It was very moving; it is difficult to explain what you feel and it is really special to receive the greetings and congratulations of the Pope. It was wonderful to feel these emotions and special to see his strength’.

Rubens Barrichello explained that meeting the Pope had always been his dream. ‘Now it has finally been realised the emotion is overwhelming; I am happy to have shared this feeling with Ferrari’, stated the Brazilian. Piero Ferrari remembered the Pope’s visit to Maranello on 4 June 1988. ‘I was there back then and I accompanied the Pope in a Ferrari. It was amazing and we were able to look back together to that day. It really was a great experience’. Testimony to the energy and unquenchable spirit of the Holy Father, Navarro Vals, the Pope’s Director of the Press Office and spokesperson, related a little anecdote: ‘Immediately after this morning’s meeting, the Holy Father told me that Ferrari had presented him with a model that differed greatly from that which he saw in 1988’.

With this tale the meeting with journalists held immediately the audience with the Pope was wrapped up. During the press conference, held in the Vatican’s Press Office, Jean Todt announced the President Montezemolo had decided to construct an Enzo ‘number 400’. The additional version of the limited edition 12-cylinder will be donated to Caritas before being auctioned and the proceeds sent to the victims of the tsunami in South East Asia.