Pirelli's 500-GP Legacy: A Stir of the Soul Book Launch

At the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Pirelli unveiled A Stir of the Soul: Pirelli’s 500 GPs in the F1 World Championship, a commemorative volume edited by the Pirelli Foundation and published by Marsilio Arte. The book celebrates Pirelli’s 500 races in the World Championship through a rich sequence of images and texts, with many materials drawn from the Pirelli Historical Archive.

The presentation brought together Marco Tronchetti Provera, Pirelli’s Executive Vice President and Chairman of the Pirelli Foundation, Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Formula 1, and former F1 driver Nick Heidfeld. FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem contributed via video, and Jean Todt, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, also took part. Journalist Tom Clarkson moderated.

Tronchetti Provera spoke about Pirelli’s relationship with the sport: “Our work in Formula 1 is a continuous commitment to innovation, but also to safety. Being part of something unique like F1 demands constant effort.” With the partnership already extended through 2028, he added: “When they ask you to stay, you stay — because it means you’re doing well, and the story can continue.”

Domenicali, for his part, thanked Pirelli and the team behind the partnership — Marco, Giovanni, Mario, Dario and everyone involved — paying tribute to the company’s long-standing contribution to the sport.

The book traces the story from Silverstone on 13 May 1950, the day the World Championship was born, through legends from Alberto Ascari and Juan Manuel Fangio to Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen — while also shining a light on the engineers and mechanics who make every Grand Prix possible. Marking the 75th anniversary of the F1 World Championship, it promises to be essential reading for any true motorsport fan.