Leo Turrini mourns Enzo Ferrari's last mechanic.

      This morning in Modena the funeral of Rolando Levoni took place; he was one of those anonymous Formula 1 heroes known only to the initiated, but Leo Turini, a veteran of Italian motorsport journalism, had known this man for many years and sincerely mourns him…

      Enzo Ferrari passed away on August 14, 1988. It so happened that on the 37th anniversary of his death Rolando Levoni, my dear friend, who was the last mechanic of the great Commendatore, also passed away…

      He worked with the team at a time when everyone in the Ferrari garage spoke not even Italian, but a special dialect typical of Modena — simply because all the Scuderia’s mechanics came from that province. So Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter and Gilles Villeneuve, and later even Michael Schumacher, had to get used to that distinctive speech, which was marked by a sharp and loud sound, somewhat like the roar of a 12‑cylinder engine.

      Rolando passed away on the eve of his 90th birthday; he was one of the last symbols of that era, of which only romantic memories remain.

      Levoni’s hands were always up to the elbows in engine oil, and the story of his life is the story of Ferrari in that glorious period. As he liked to say, slightly embellishing the facts, that in the early ’60s he was hired personally by Enzo Ferrari. In any case he was one of those mechanics who together helped to build the legend…

      Like the other Scuderia mechanics, Levoni knew his trade perfectly and could work very quickly, so Mauro Forghieri, the chief designer, could always rely on him. Once he told me: “For Ferrari and Forghieri we are ready to walk into the fire, because we are not hired hands — we feel like soldiers on the front. And our drivers are heroes whom we must protect. When fate in 1982 took our dear Gilles Villeneuve, for everyone it was the loss of someone close and dear.”

      Even in retirement, Levoni contributed to preserving Ferrari’s history. To me he was like a beloved uncle — I suppose anyone who reads this obituary will feel the same. I can easily imagine that up there in Heaven he, together with the Commendatore Enzo and Mauro Forghieri, will continue to root for Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton…