Crackling fireside chat
11/28/2021
The crackling fire could be clearly heard in the silence of the "Cigar Lounge" in the Autohalle in Andelfingen. The audience was so quiet that you could have actually heard the thud of a chicken feather.
On the evening of November 24, 2021, the silence was for the first interlocutor of "zwischengas". It was the 72-year-old engine pope from Chur, Mario Illien. He gave the numerous guests in attendance a sympathetic insight into his unparalleled career.
Illien is probably the most successful Swiss in international motor racing. His engine designs have won the Indianapolis 500 miles no fewer than six times and the Formula 1 World Championship twice with Mercedes. And a third world championship title with Red Bull Honda could be added in just three weeks' time.
Mario's career and life story is so fascinating that it would have been nice to listen to him for hours, but of course the "fireside chat" format did not allow for this. But even so, it was possible to learn a few things that only very few of the listeners knew beforehand, such as the fact that Illien designed his first racing engine before he had even been able to learn the technical basics at the "Tech". However, the most important insight from the conversation was certainly that you have to take risks in life and that you should never lose sight of the goal behind the goal.
We will prepare the interview in a suitable form and then publish it.
