The F1 paddock is filled with glamour and glitz. But more often than not, all the fandom is channeled towards the drivers and team bosses. The unsung heroes of the sport — the mechanics — seldom get any spotlight. But from the world of F1 mechanics, only one has captured the attention of F1 fans like Ferrari’s Alessandro Fusaro.
Fusaro became an internet sensation, almost overnight, after a video of him went viral on TikTok, as explained by veteran F1 photojournalist, Kym Illman. But what made the Italian engineer so endearing to the fans? Well, it was his dashing Italian good looks and his Guido tattoo.
A little bit of back story about the Guido tattoo is that it was an obvious choice for Fusaro. In the movie ‘Cars’, Guido was the ‘tire changer’ who was a massive Ferrari fan. Just like Guido, Fusaro has a pretty strong affinity with the team from Maranello — and Italian motorsport for that matter.
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In his YouTube video, Illman revealed that the father of two lives very close to Ferrari’s factory. Moreover, his resume is an extensive testimony to his career in motorsport. He worked with AlphaTauri, which is now RB (based in Faenza), and before that plied his trade with Maserati for five years. Today, he works as the #1 mechanic for the Scuderia.
His duties revolve around the #16 driver, Charles Leclerc. He took the internet by storm once again though but in painful circumstances. Earlier today, during FP3 for the Mexico City GP, the Italian took a tumble as Leclerc was exiting the pits. However, later he signaled he was unhurt by holding his thumbs up for the fans watching all over the world on the live TV feed.
Illman has dubbed the Italian as F1’s favorite engineer, and it’s no surprise. After going viral in the paddock, Fusaro had to turn his Instagram account private owing to the fans who swarmed his profile with messages and follow requests.
Going into qualifying for the 2024 Mexico City GP, Fusaro will be pumped up to help his driver repeat his winning streak from Austin, last weekend.
