2/10/2022

THE PRESENTATION EVENT OF THE FIRENZE RACE TEAM TO COMPANIES INTERESTED IN THE FORMULA STUDENT WORLD TOOK PLACE ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2022. THE EVENT WAS HELD AT THE SALA DELLA MUSICA (ZEFFIRELLI FOUNDATION) AND WAS ATTENDED BY THE COUNCILLOR OF THE CITY OF FLORENCE, COSIMO GUCCIONE, AND COMPANIES FROM CONFINDUSTRIA.

The presentation event of the team, entitled “Firenze Race Team and the future of mobility,” was a success for the racing team of the University of Florence. With the patronage of the Municipality of Florence and the collaboration of Confindustria Florence, word spread quickly, and many local companies wanted to attend the event to get to know us. In a historically significant location and with the participation of many realities from the Florentine territory, and beyond, the Firenze Race Team seeks to expand its contacts to realize the driverless car that will compete in 2023.

The first to speak was Cosimo Guccione, councilor for sports and youth policies of the City of Florence, who had previously come into contact with the team in March 2021 to understand what the Firenze Race Team and the Formula Student were. “It is a great pleasure to participate in this presentation event organized to make the City aware of this splendid reality that is the Firenze Race Team. I visited them months ago in Santa Marta to see them working during a test day, and I was truly impressed by the passion that the group of students puts into this project.” The councilor then complimented the University of Florence, represented by the professors of the School of Engineering present at the event, and thanked the sponsors supporting the team. “Young people are the present of our City, so we institutions and entities that can collaborate to support young people have the task of helping them in their ambitions and always being innovators. So let’s all try together to support and build a future for these young people.”

Professor Marco Pierini, vice-rector for technology transfer at the University of Florence, continued with the greetings. “It is a great pleasure for me to bring you the greetings of the University of Florence and in particular of the Magnificent Rector, Alessandra Petrucci, who unfortunately is engaged today in another event. In these days, we celebrated the 50 years of the School of Engineering, and I like to remember that the Firenze Race Team has over 20 years and is an important part of the history of our School. Above all, the work these students do in connection between classical university education and the world of work is important. The companies that have hired our students tell us that they have an extra gear because the activities they carry out allow them to train also in teamwork and organizational activities that are not normally suited to university classrooms.”

Two guests also intervened during the event to talk about two fundamental aspects for the mobility of the future. First, engineer Luca Marmorini, former Director of Engines and Electronics of the Scuderia Ferrari in Formula One from 2009 to 2014, spoke about mobility from F1 to the road. Subsequently, Professor Matteo Galletti, professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Florence, addressed the theme of the ethics of autonomous vehicles.

In particular, given Engineer Marmorini’s experience, let’s mention his words regarding the relationship between Formula One and Formula Student: “When I asked Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren and a judge of Formula Student, why he was interested in this world, he told me that the ideas seen from these students are remarkable examples of ingenuity without conditioning. For this reason, I remind the sponsors that you are shaping the real technical class that will innovate and define the mobility of the future. Politically, there will be objectives such as reducing CO2 and using electric motors, but it will be these students, technically, who will put these choices into practice because we need them.”

Finally, after Professor Galletti’s intervention on the ethics of autonomous driving, some students presented the Firenze Race Team. Nicola Lanzi, current team leader of FRT, explained what Formula Student competitions consist of, Nathan Giovannini, former team leader, took us to the Czech Republic where the last race took place, and Maurizio Guadagno, current technical director, introduced the innovations for the upcoming season and the challenges that await us