After graduating with an engineering degree in Electronics, Luca went on to join the Ferrari F1 team in 1989 where he worked first as a development engineer for the gearbox, then as an electronics engineer.

In 1995 he became the race engineer to Ferrari driver Gerhard Berger, a role he would later go on to fulfill for both Eddie Irvine and more famously 7 time World Champion Michael Schumacher. An extremely loyal individual Luca believed it was very important in his role as race engineer to be friends as well as colleagues with the driver he supported in order to be able to do the best job he possibly could.

In 2000 he became Michael Schumacher s Race Engineer and helped guide Michael to Ferrari s first joint WDC and WCC in over 20 years. Redeeming a bet he made to Michael at the beginning of that year, Luca famously had all his hair shaved off to celebrate!

After three successive world driver and constructor championships and a few cigars along the way .Luca felt it was time for a new challenge and in 2003 briefly became the technical co-ordinator between the factory and the track.

However due to changes in F1, strategy was becoming an ever more important and difficult role to fulfill and Ross Brawn was struggling on his own to analyse all the hundred of different parameters involved in understanding a car in race conditions. Recognising Luca was a gifted statistician and keen strategist, Ross personally asked for him to become his assistant on the pitwall to help him prepare the race strategy for each race.

As chief race engineer / strategist between 2003 and 2006 it was Luca s job with his team to take the data from testing and qualifying and prepare race strategies for both of the drivers. For each race weekend Luca s job was to prepare a selection of feasible race strategies, from which Ross could work with on the pitwall. The role also involved overseeing race set up for both of the F1 cars to minimise the risk of any issues out on track.

At the end of 2006 with the departure of Technical Director Ross Brawn who has taken a sabbatical, and the departure of some other key staff members, Ferrari re-organised their management and technical structure. Luca was promoted to Head of Track Operations working to Technical Director Mario Almondo, this role took on many of the trackside responsibilities that previously fell to Ross to complete. After 3 years as Ross s trackside protege Luca was well placed and experienced to carry on where Ross left off.

For 2008 Luca has been promoted to the role of Team Manager/Sporting Director for the Scuderia Ferrari F1 team, this role will focus on the rules and regulations set out by the FIA ensuring that the team are adhering to them. It remains to be seen who will take over the reigns concerning the trackside strategy planning and other trackside tasks Luca used to complete.

Away from the pitwall Luca is a private, quiet and modest individual, but his passion for motor racing and his nice personality have made him very popular with the tifosi. He is also one of only a very few Ferrari Engineers to have ever had a book written about him. The Book entitled Ingegnere Delle Rosse - Il Baldo Luca Da Zero a Quaranta (Ferrari Engineer - Baldo from Zero to Forty) by Simonetta Cavligieri charts the key moments of Luca s life including photos, testiments from his family, friends and even from Michael Schumacher!

Profile thanks to - MrsBaldo and FerrariFan

In 2024 Ferrari spent $214 million on the expansion of their factory in Maranello Italy. The company purchased some land north of the current factory to build a new EV building. Buying property in Italy can be expensive, especially in Maranello, but Ferrari will recoup the cost since their new EV is rumoured to cost over $500K.