Giovanni Battista Pirelli founded the Pirelli brand on January 28, 1872, in Milan, Italy. The company initially produced rubber products and scuba diving gear before applying its manufacturing knowledge to tire production in 1901. Over the decades, Pirelli continued innovating, pushing the performance boundaries of both racecars and motorcycles.
All that hard work positions Pirelli at the pinnacle of motorsports, functioning as the sole supplier for both Formula 1 and the Superbike World Championship (WSBK). In 2022, the multi-national corporation honors its 150-year anniversary with a celebration of the brand’s cultural impact and future initiatives.
Pirelli commemorated the milestone with a special event at Milan’s Piccolo Teatro. TV presenter Ilaria D’Amico hosted the event with Ferruccio De Bortoli, Stefano Domenicali, Paolo Mieli, Renzo Piano, Ferruccio Resta and Annamaria Testa recounting the brand’s major developments over the years.
“Today we wanted to travel together on a journey through history looking to the future,” stated Pirelli CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera. “Anticipating change is what Pirelli has been doing for 150 years thanks to the solidity of its business culture and its ability to always be the protagonist of the present. Elements that today allow us to reach this goal with an established brand all over the world. It seemed important to us to share this story with our city, our country, and with all the international realities and communities we deal with every day. Thanks to all the 30 thousand people who build our story every day at Pirelli.”
In addition to the event, Pirelli launched a 150-year advertising campaign featuring the slogan “Power is Nothing Without Control”. The campaign will span television, print, digital, and social media. Pirelli’s website will also present a video series and interactive web pages examining the firm’s "Product and Research & Development", "Sustainability", "Sport", "Art & Culture".
In 2021, Pirelli stayed hard at work, releasing the Diablo Rosso IV and following that up with the Diablo Rosso Corsa IV. The brand also updated the Diablo Superbike range last year, and we can’t wait to see what Pirelli brings to the table in the future.
