Palermo, Verstappen splashes with F1 at the Quattro Canti. Only 182 euros of public land: controversy

There is controversy in Palermo over a video with which Red Bull Racing Honda, the Formula 1 team currently contesting the world championship, wanted to pay homage to Italy ahead of the Monza Grand Prix. The video, titled “Ciao Palermo, Monza is calling,” sees the single-seater driven by Dutchman Max Verstappen, the team’s captain at the moment leading the world championship, as it speeds through the streets of the city (it was actually driven by the team’s test driver, Austrian Patrick Friesacher, himself a former Formula 1 driver). The video opens at the Ballarò market with two irreplaceable elements of the stereotype of the Italian who is liked abroad (the tanned hawker shouting to sell his products, and the mandolin music) with Verstappen wandering among the stalls and then being called back by his team because he has to attend the Grand Prix. He then climbs into his car, drives through the streets of Palermo passing the main sites (the Norman Palace, the Cathedral, Porta Felice, Favorita Park, Mondello beach, and the seafront), eliciting astonishment from the inhabitants (including a couple who are getting married) despite the team telling him to “not get too noticed,” and stopping for a skid at the Quattro Canti, under a shower of rose petals being thrown at him from the windows. The video ends at boarding: the single-seater is loaded onto a barge heading north.

The video required four days of filming with a 60-professional crew and 300 employees working on the set: and in return, the City of Palermo got only 182 euros in public land occupancy from it, causing endless discussions in the Sicilian capital. That is, as Councillor for Productive Activities Cettina Martorana explained, the concession for only 160 square meters, those of the parking spaces. “If there were two fixed tents in a point A and a point B, in theory the municipal regulation would allow to ask for public land for the area that is in between, but this was not the case, the principals were not connected to each other,” Martorana explained. In addition, the spot caused traffic disruptions for an entire day.

According to the mayor of Palermo, Leoluca Orlando, the return, however, will be in terms of visibility: the initiative will be seen by “300 million people,” the first citizen said. “There is someone who is using the criticalities of an administration that is coming from 15 months of pandemic to destroy the vision of the city we are building.” For the time being, the video, released on the team’s YouTube channel, has garnered more than 760,000 views but is at the top of the trending video list. Will the results be enough to quell the controversy?

Palermo, Verstappen splashes with F1 at the Quattro Canti. Only 182 euros of public land: controversy

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