Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene was moved to tears after the US GP victory of Kimi Raikkonen, not because the Finnish driver had won, but because of an unsaid tragedy in Maranello.

Raikkonen’s victory in Texas, ended up becoming a tribute for engineer who passed away suddenly and unexpectedly, and claims team boss Maurizio Arrivabene, the real reason he wore sunglasses after the race.

Obviously happy that the driver he’d not long sacked had won the Austin Grand Prix, many thought his tears were for victory in the USA for F1 veteran. Kimi Raikkonen had not won a race since his return to Ferrari, after a frankly staggering dry spell of 2044 days, earned back in his Lotus days in 2013.

Both Kimi and Arrivabene wore glasses during the post race period, and it appears that both Ferrari team members were tearful at a recent passing of Daniele Casanova, the team’s Head of Performance.

A tragic situation for a respected Formula 1 guy – Casanova, a Maranello technician for years, had gone to bed early because he had a headache and told his wife he did not feel very well.

Then his heart failed. All attempts of resuscitation, first by his wife, then by the rescue workers, failed. The Italian was only 48 years old, leaving behind his wife and two sons at the age of six and eight years.

Casanova has been in charge of the simulation department since March 2015 with regard to the performance of the Ferrari. His official title is Head of Performance Systems.

He brought a lot of experience to Maranello. The Italian worked at Lotus during Kimi’s spell at the Enstone team (2010 to 2015), at Red Bull Racing (2006 to 2010), Toyota (2003 to 2005) and Renault F1 (2000 to 2003).

He has a degree in optimization and simulation engineering from the University of Cranfield. Previously, he had done his mechanical engineering at the Polytechnic of Milan and then spent two years studying at the University of Delft Vehicle Dynamics.

Usually after the race comes a barrage of media commitments for Arrivabene, but this time the passionate Italian man only attended the compulsory FIA meetings. Some thought it unprofessional, perhaps not quite realising the reasons why.

Only Sky Italia managed to extract some words from Maurizio:

“You see, I’m wearing glasses, and I never do that. But we are thinking at this moment of our Daniele Casanova, which we lost recently. He’s up there now, but I know he’s with us too. ”

RIP