In the F1 paddock of the modern era, drivers and personnel are catered for by their respective teams\u2019 hospitality functions, ensuring that all members of the squad are fuelled for action across a busy weekend.<\/p>\n
However, back in the sport\u2019s early days, such developments were unheard of \u2013 until the arrival of Luigi Montanini, that is. Better known as \u2018Pasticcino\u2019, the Italian was recruited by none other than Enzo Ferrari in the late 1970s to provide food for the outfit\u2019s drivers, mechanics and engineers.<\/p>\n
With that, the humble cook became the first F1 chef, a journey that would see him travel with the team across a range of locations as he ensured that all members of the crew were kept well-fed at Grand Prix events.<\/p>\n
The opportunity was clearly a special one for Pasticcino, who \u2013 having been born in Maranello \u2013 tells F1.com that he had a \u201cspecial connection with Ferrari<\/a> and with the team\u201d even before coming onboard as their chef.<\/p>\n Needless to say, the world of Formula 1 has changed and evolved in the years since \u2013 and, as we catch up in a bustling Monza paddock during the Italian Grand Prix<\/a> weekend, Pasticcino reflects on what the atmosphere was like back when he first arrived in the sport.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was really a family feeling in the paddock because, with just a plate of pasta, rivals became friends,\u201d he recalls. \u201cSo it can take just a plate of pasta to create this environment.\u201d<\/p>\n That sentiment is echoed by F1 Official Partner Barilla<\/a>, who have brought the message of \u2018Tastes Like Family\u2019 to their pasta bars in the paddock (as well as in the campaign video below). Pasticcino goes on to explain: \u201cThe food and the pasta is the thing that can create the feeling of family \u2013 everyone likes pasta.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of easy with pasta as an instrument to create, to put everything at the table. They are rivals on the track and in their lives, but around the table they\u2019re friends.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, while Pasticcino was recruited by Ferrari, it was not just the Scuderia\u2019s staff that he kept fed \u2013 the veteran chef reels off illustrious names including Ayrton Senna<\/a>, Michael Schumacher<\/a> and Nelson Piquet<\/a> when we ask about the well-known personalities he catered for.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they saw me, they hugged me,\u201d Pasticcino says of his relationship with the drivers. \u201cIt was like being their father.\u201d<\/p>\n Which begs the question \u2013 which dishes were particularly popular amongst the esteemed names he cooked for back then? One ingredient, it seems, became a key feature\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cWe were travelling all around the world during the year, and the only thing we found everywhere in the world, in the supermarket, was pasta,\u201d Pasticcino remembers. \u201cSo we did pasta with tomatoes, pasta with oil and garlic, and pasta with ragu. Also, if you have great fish or amazing food, the people want it with pasta.\u201d<\/p>\n It was not just the big names from within the Formula 1 paddock that came to Pasticcino for a good meal. When quizzed on his favourite memories from his time in the sport, the Italian shares an anecdote featuring nothing less than royalty.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were in Melbourne at the Australian Grand Prix, and the Prince of Monaco came in,\u201d he smiles. \u201cThe staff were thinking, \u2018Oh my God, it\u2019s the Prince of Monaco \u2013 what do we have to do? Please Pasticcino, help us \u2013 we need to figure something.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the Prince of Monaco \u2013 who knows me \u2013 said, \u2018No no, I have to go to the kitchen. I don\u2019t want to do anything else \u2013 I have to go to the kitchen and meet Pasticcino! I want to spend time with him.\u2019 George Harrison was my friend too.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite mixing with such figures, Pasticcino \u2013 who, after cooking for Ferrari and then the Benetton team across the 500 Grands Prix he attended, opened his own restaurant, Da Pasticcino, in Modena \u2013 is modest when we ask how it feels to be known as the first paddock chef.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really happy and really honoured, but I\u2019m humble,\u201d he explains. \u201cI like to be in my restaurant, and I don\u2019t want the spotlight.\u201d<\/p>\n Pasticcino acknowledges that the paddock has significantly changed since his early days in the sport \u2013 but something that remains is his love for both cooking and Formula 1.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s of course a completely different world because, when it started, I had just a small kitchen with some gas and some boiled water and some pasta,\u201d the man from Maranello concedes.<\/p>\n \u201cYou look around now and you have all the hospitality, but I think the thing that never changes is this special feeling that food can make.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m passionate about F1,\u201d Pasticcino adds \u2013 something that quickly becomes evident as his attention fittingly turns to the unfolding practice session playing out on a screen nearby. Formula 1 may be ever-evolving, but it seems that having a passion for the sport \u2013 and indeed the food that fuels it \u2013 continues to unite competitors, personnel and fans alike.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the F1 paddock of the modern era, drivers and personnel are catered for by their respective teams\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[1687,372,6537,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-164738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-f1","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}