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CEO Giovanni Delfino’s remarks at the Motor Valley Fest 2026


Motorsport is experiencing a period of strong vitality. Not only because of the results that continue to bring Italy back to the center of international competitions, but also because of the strength of an entire industrial system capable of transforming research, technology, and development into a competitive advantage recognized worldwide. These are some of the topics analyzed by Giovanni Delfino (CEO of the Korus Group and Tatuus), starting from the concept of collaboration among different but complementary excellences.



A growing movement and an increasingly widespread demand for motorsport.

“What we are experiencing is a demand for motorsport that is difficult to measure, but we are helped by some significant numbers, such as the 500 T-421 units recently celebrated by Tatuus and the 300 first-generation Formula 4 cars, along with all the other categories we supply. We are talking about a healthy movement that is clearly perceptible also in karting, where at every race we see hundreds of children showing determination and a strong desire to get into karts and compete.

Today our priority is to continue producing and offering products to help these young drivers grow, so that they can eventually reach the top level of hypercars, F1, and IndyCar, with the awareness that it is not an easy or inexpensive path, but one to which we dedicate ourselves every day.”



The technological and industrial challenge of junior and entry categories.

“Italian mechatronics is a benchmark and a point of reference. We produce and sell cars while respecting extremely strict price caps, with safety standards that must be guaranteed to young drivers racing at a very high competitive level. The effort is significant, but so is the satisfaction in seeing these results on track.”



Motorsport as an ecosystem of industrial collaboration.

“The panel is called The Future of Racing and if I were asked what it means, fully understanding the depth of this title would require endless reasoning. But then I look around and I am joined in this panel by Pirelli, Marelli, Sabelt, and Ferrari, with whom we will be rivals in WEC but always friends. Many of them also collaborate on the T-421 project, which in itself is highly representative of what the future of racing stands for.

I always recall with pleasure how we are on excellent terms with Dallara, with whom we share, without overlap, a specific area of activity such as the motorsport pyramid, which today represents an almost entirely Italian market.”



The role of Italy in motorsport

“There are many OEMs that choose to work alongside Italian elite companies to develop their products, and this clearly demonstrates how strong Italy’s importance in motorsport is. It is no coincidence that from all over the world people look to Italy to find quality.

For us, reaching a level of collaboration such as the one with McLaren has been an important step up; working with a manufacturer of this prestige is undoubtedly a source of pride and of absolute significance.”


Panel participants

The panel held in Modena at the San Paolo complex featured representatives from several national and international motorsport organizations:


Marco Palmerini (MotoGP Vehicle Development Manager, Ducati)

Lara Rodini (Global Sponsorships & Activation Director, Lenovo)

Philippe Tramonde (Technical Director Motorsport, Michelin)

Massimiliano Ortalli (VP, Market Unit Director, Automotive, Life Science, Manufacturing, Aerospace & Defence, Capgemini)

Massimiliano Marsiaj (Executive Vice President, Sabelt S.p.A.)

Riccardo De Filippi (CEO Motorsport, Marelli)

Dario Marrafuschi (Head of Motorsport, Pirelli)

Antonello Coletta (Ferrari)

Vincent Biard (Head of Maserati Corse)

Franco Cevolini (CEO, CRP Group)

Alessandro Tucci (Executive Director Head of House of Grand Challenges, Aspire)

Luca Ciancetti (Technical Director, Podium Advanced Technologies)

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Events, updates and latest news from the Tatuus world.

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Destination Macau: the T-326 and T-421 set to star in the 2026 FIA World Cups
Destination Macau: the T-326 and T-421 set to star in the 2026 FIA World Cups
The FIA has officially confirmed the adoption of Tatuus single-seaters for the 2026 Formula Regional and Formula 4 World Cups.
Tatuus cars, already competing in national and regional championships around the world, will once again take center stage on the prestigious streets of Macau for the FIA Formula Regional World Cup and FIA Formula 4 World Cup. From 19 to 22 November, 13 teams in Formula Regional and 12 teams in Formula 4 will battle on the iconic Guia Circuit. For the T-326 , this will mark its debut in Macau, following the T-318's appearances in the Formula Regional World Cup in 2024 and 2025. For the T-421 , it will be a welcome return after making its Macau debut in the Formula 4 World Cup in 2023.

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Stories
“Motorsport works like magic, capable of inspiring that uniquely Italian determination to keep believing in something even when the numbers don’t add up.”
“Motorsport works like magic, capable of inspiring that uniquely Italian determination to keep believing in something even when the numbers don’t add up.”
The words of CEO Giovanni Delfino in an interview with la Repubblica.

The CEO of Tatuus, ATM – Autotecnica Motori, and the Korus Group was featured in an interview published today in la Repubblica and written by Irene Saderini. During the conversation, he reflected on some of the most important and defining moments of his career, while also sharing his views on several aspects of the global motorsport industry.
The full interview is available on repubblica.it .

A Personal Journey A central theme of the interview is the CEO’s personal story, which began with his decision to pursue engineering studies and continued through a career marked by bold choices and decisive moments: “I don’t believe in luck; I believe in being able to seize it. When an opportunity comes your way, you have to recognize it. That said, it would be unfair to claim I wasn’t fortunate. I joined the company when I had virtually nothing. The founder allowed me to repay my debt over time, and I only finished paying the last installments two or three years ago.”
Delfino also spoke about his early years at Alfa Corse, where he developed his passion for experimentation and performance engineering: “At heart, I am a track engineer. I worked in the testing departments, where our job was to find that extra half horsepower from a finished product. My first experiences came in Alfa Romeo Touring Cars, with drivers such as Giovanardi, Tarquini and Larini competing against BMW and Mercedes. Sometimes those extra two horsepower were what won you the race.”

Formula 4 and Driver Development Among the key topics discussed was the production of Formula racing cars and engines, today one of the cornerstones of the Korus Group: “Everything starts with studying the regulations, which always leave room for interpretation—and success comes from finding the right one.” Speaking about Formula 4 engines, Delfino explained: “It all starts with a four-cylinder Fiat 500 Abarth unit. It must cost less than €16,500 due to the price cap and last 10,000 kilometres. My objective is to ensure that every engine performs the same.” The reward is seeing young talents progress step by step through the motorsport ladder and ultimately reach the highest levels of the sport: “It was particularly rewarding to see Andrea Kimi Antonelli begin his career in one of our cars.”

The Motorsport Industry The interview also included a broader reflection on the remarkable momentum motorsport is experiencing worldwide: “Motorsport sometimes works like a kind of magic, capable of overcoming marketing logic and keeping alive that uniquely Italian determination to believe in something even when the numbers don’t add up.”
Particularly representative of the Korus Group’s vision was Delfino’s perspective on internal combustion and electric powertrains: “For me, the smell of a winning engine is the smell of gasoline, hard work and sacrifice. A twelve-cylinder engine on track is like a violin—actually, an entire orchestra of violins. Racing is my world, and I find it difficult to see any of that emotion in batteries alone. Hybrid technology, however, is a different story. We are part of the FIA working group on the new regulations, and I find the hybrid approach very compelling.”
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News
Tatuus Celebrates the 500th T-421, the World’s Most Widely Used Formula 4 Car
Tatuus Celebrates the 500th T-421, the World’s Most Widely Used Formula 4 Car
The Lainate-based manufacturer has celebrated the production and delivery of the 500th chassis of the single-seater on which Kimi Antonelli and Arvid Lindblad developed their careers.

Born in 2021, the Tatuus T-421 reached its 500th unit produced and delivered in May 2026, once again confirming its status as one of the most manufactured and successful racing single-seaters worldwide. The milestone was celebrated by the Lainate-based brand together with all its employees and the sister companies of the Korus group, which contribute daily to the T-421 project: ATM–Autotecnica Motori, Breda Racing, and Next Solution Technologies.
Today, the T-421 is the most widely used Formula 4 car in the world, competing across 16 championships spanning Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania. Behind its wheel, some of the most exciting talents in contemporary motorsport have developed, including Kimi Antonelli and Arvid Lindblad , who built the first steps of their single-seater careers in the second-generation Tatuus F4 before progressing all the way to the pinnacle of Formula 1.
“The 500th T-421 is not only a major milestone for Tatuus, but also an important achievement for the entire international motorsport ecosystem,” said Giovanni Delfino, CEO of Tatuus and the Korus Group. “With the introduction of Formula 4 in 2014, the FIA created a new pathway between karting and single-seaters, enabling drivers to arrive better prepared for higher categories. This model has established itself through years of significant growth in motorsport, during which many championships were launched and expanded, now reaching grids of nearly 50 cars per round with the second generation we celebrate today. These are figures that were difficult to imagine at the beginning of this journey, but which now define the everyday reality of many of the companies within the Korus Group.”
“Throughout Tatuus’ history, many of our models have achieved widespread adoption across global championships and have demonstrated unparalleled driver development capabilities,” added Gianfranco De Bellis, President of Tatuus and the Korus group. “The T-421 is writing an important chapter in the history of our brand and, together with the first-generation car, is now approaching 800 units produced. These volumes allow us to aim toward the milestone of 1,000 F4 single-seaters, a figure previously approached by the various Formula Renault models that marked a turning point in our history and in the development path of many drivers.”
As the second generation of Formula 4 single-seaters, the T-421 succeeded the T-014, which from 2014—the year Formula 4 was introduced—through 2021 was produced in just under 300 units. It represented the ideal platform for drivers transitioning from karting to single-seaters, and helped develop talents such as Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen, Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson, Lance Stroll, Oliver Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Franco Colapinto.
The T-421 is just one of many examples of the cooperation that makes the Korus group one of the leading global ecosystems in motorsport engineering. The companies within the Group involved in the celebration have contributed to the project from day one, within a consolidated model of synergies that each year gives rise to new cars, powertrains, and solutions for motorsport.
Specifically, ATM–Autotecnica Motori developed and supplies the Abarth-derived inline four-cylinder engine that powers the car, while Breda Racing is responsible for a large portion of the components—such as the halo and suspension arms—as well as instrumentation required for managing the cars both on track and at HQ. Next Solution Technologies provides a significant part of the car’s electronic and electromechanical systems, in addition to supplying steering wheels and rain lights.
However, the milestone of 500 cars does not represent a finishing point for Tatuus. Production of the current model will continue through 2028 , when FIA regulations foresee the introduction of the third-generation car , on which the brands of the Korus Group are already actively working.

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