F1: Luca di Montezemolo accepts Ferrari at ''end of an era''

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From GMM

All signs continue to point towards a major change of direction at crisis-struck Ferrari.

Although long-time president Luca di Montezemolo played down the waves of speculation at Monza, his likely successor Sergio Marchionne issued a series of highly critical statements about the 67-year-old on Sunday.

Italy's specialist Autosprint then published a photo of Marchionne, being driven in a Maserati road car, leaving the area of Montezemolo's office within the factory grounds at Maranello on Monday.

Even the formerly combative Montezemolo now seems resigned to departing, as Marchionne - chairman of Ferrari's 90 per cent owner - looks to pull back the current separation between the fabled Italian marque and the Fiat-Chrysler empire.

"Ferrari is now American," Montezemolo reportedly told close associates, according to Corriere della Sera newspaper.

He added that it is "the end of an era".

Ferrari's entrance at Maranello. (Photo: René Fagnan)