Ferrari, for me, has always been all about a number of different things; the history, the sculptural look of the cars, the noise of those V12 engines, and they are still the best looking cars. My first Ferrari was the 275 GTB four-cam. It was another five years before I could afford the GTO.

My first connection with Ferrari must have been the Dinky toy, the blue one with a yellow nose, Prince Bira’s racing colours. Then I went racing with my dad, to Goodwood and Silverstone, and this was the ultimate treat because he was both a spectator and a competitor. So I’d seen the 1950s drivers like Fangio and Ascari, and become very aware of the Ferrari grand prix cars.

Ferrari stands for so much more than just the racing cars, it’s also about what it means to Italy, to Italians. Our nearest equivalent would be the Spitfire, what it means to the nation. So, with Ferrari it’s much more than the racing or the drivers. The Prancing Horse is a totem that no other manufacturer has, apart from possibly Mercedes. Ferrari has been a constant presence in the sport when other manufacturers have dipped in and out.

Then there’s Enzo, the man and his vision, which was sometimes flawed. He could be a monster, his rudeness and falling out with Stirling [Moss] in the 1950s was never resolved and that makes the story even stronger.

If you love Ferrari you have to go to Monza but I went there for historic racing before I ever went to the grand prix, though it was somewhere I’d always wanted to go. Going to the factory to collect a car was always part of the joy of owning a Ferrari, going to the Cavallino restaurant over the road where Enzo had a private room, and there’s the Ristorante Montana right outside the Fiorano test track. So now you had the pasta, the red wine and the Ferraris… well, maybe not so much of the wine these days. When you’re five miles away the roads are already bristling with Ferraris, and you see places where you can rent one for an afternoon. The whole place is dedicated to the red cars, there’s so much history. I was down there recently and everyone was talking about Lewis Hamilton coming to the Formula 1 team.

Owning or racing the cars, the noise is an important part of the pleasure, the V12s in particular. When you’re up against six-cylinder cars the sound is special, part of the joy. That Prancing Horse badge must be one of the top five most-recognised logos in the world. So many brands have changed their logos over the years but Ferrari has never done that. The horse was there at the very beginning and it’s still there now. Ferrari is about tenacity, about not jacking it in when the boardroom decides it’s a waste of money or some other corporate reason. It’s about total commitment.

People say every F1 driver wants to go to Ferrari but I’m not sure they all do. It’s quite an alarming experience. You need a lot of confidence for the relationship to work like it did, for example, with Niki Lauda and Luca di Montezemolo. That was a magic combination. There is so much pressure on the team and the drivers from the Italian media. I guess the equivalent here is the English football team. They undergo the same treatment, but they only have to worry about it every four years or so. For Ferrari, it’s on a daily basis.

“The team and drivers are under daily pressure from Italian media”

Ferrari has never lost its aura, or its appeal. A relatively recent car, like the LaFerrari, is a stunning piece of engineering and it was all done in the factory at Maranello. The cars have got bigger, however, and what I really love is how small the GTO is compared to the new cars. As far as running them is concerned the worst was my 275 GTB which wet its plugs all the time. I’d take them indoors to warm them up. The experience varies from car to car. The F40, which I bought new in 1988, is still a joy after all the years. It’s such an exciting car, totally analogue, a bit like having a dog that wants to be petted but might just prefer to take a piece out of your arm. I got some special luggage to go with it – one piece would take a large pizza, one would fit a chunk of cheese, but it’s a really nice part of having such a great Ferrari.”