Francesco Bernoulli is the Italian race car in Pixar’s Cars 2.
Francesco is Lightning McQueen’s major racing rival during the World Grand Prix. He is an open-wheel race car with a highly confident personality and repeatedly boasts that he is faster and more famous than McQueen.
The character’s first name and design reflect Italian motorsport imagery, but Francesco Bernoulli is a fictional competitor rather than a real racing driver. His rivalry with McQueen provides the sports storyline while Mater’s accidental involvement with spies supplies the film’s comedy and adventure plot.
Francesco is voiced in English by John Turturro. The film’s international cast also includes Michael Caine as Finn McMissile, Emily Mortimer as Holley Shiftwell, and Eddie Izzard as Sir Miles Axlerod. Francesco’s surname is sometimes mistakenly replaced by the names of real Italian car brands, but Bernoulli is the character’s canonical family name.