Current Ferrari

Ferrari

FIA Entry: Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
Drivers Car 5: Fernando Alonso
Car 6: Felipe Massa
Engine: Ferrari V8
Chairman: Luca di Montezemolo
Team Principal: Stefano Domenicali
Technical Director: Aldo Costa
Race Engineer Car 5: Andrea Stella
Race Engineer Car 6: Rob Smedley

Stats as of end 2010 Season

First Entered: 1950
Races Entered: 813
Race Wins: 215
Pole Positions: 205
Fastest Laps: 224
Driver World Championships: 15
Constructor World Championships: 16

Team History

Ferrari are the only team to have taken part in the F1 World Championship since it's inception in 1950. They are synonymous with F1 and, for many, the reason why they follow the sport. Ferrrai fans, or Tifosi, have clubs across the World and can be see supporting their beloved red cars from China to Brazil.

Pre-War

Enzo Ferrari founded Scuderia (Italian for Stable) Ferrari in 1929 as the race entrants for Alfa Romeo. In 1938 Alfa decided to create their own race team and Scuderia Ferrari became part of the Alfa Course team. Disagreeing with the decision Enzo Ferrari was dismissed. As part of his contract he wasn't allowed to enter motor sport under his own name for 4 years. Ferrari started to build his own car in 1939 but the start of WWII meant the Ferrari factory was used for other purposes

Before the World Championships

The first racing Ferrari was the Tipo 125 with a 12 cylinder 1.5 litre engine developed in 1947. This was the first car to bear the now legendary Ferrari name. In 1948 the 125 F1 was built with a supercharged version of the 12 cylinder engine which won 5 Grands Prix in 1949.

The 1950's

Ferrari missed the first race of the first World Championship season with their first entry being at Monaco with the 125 F1. The first V12 powered Ferrari appeared at the Belgian Grand Prix that year and Ascari finished 5th.

Ferrari's first F1 win came at the British Grand Prix in 1951 with the Tipo 375 in the hands of Froilan Gonzales. With F1 run to F2 regulations in 1952 and '53, causing the withdrawal of Alfa Romeo, Ferrari dominated and Alberto Ascari in the Tipo 500, with a 4 cylinder 2 litre engine, won the Drivers World Championship both years.

1954 saw the introduction of the 2.5 litre formula and Ferrari had new competition from Maserati, Lancia and Mercedes. The new Mercedes team were too strong and Ferrari could only manage two races wins.

Ferrari only won one race in 1955 and for 1956 used chassis bought from the now defunct Lancia team. With Mercedes withdrawal Fangio moved to Ferrari and duly won his 3rd consecutive championship. Still using the ageing Lancia chassis in in 1957 Ferrari failed to win a race. 1958 saw Mike Hawthorn win the Drivers Championship in the new 246 Dino, named after Enzo Ferrari's recently deceased son. Ferrari missed out to Vanwall in the inaugural year of the Constructors Championship.

1959 saw Tony Brooks, in the Top 246 just miss out on the Drivers Championship to Jack Brabham in a rear engined Cooper.

The 1960's

Slow to react the the obvious advantages of the rear engined cars Ferrari continued with the 246 in 1960 and only managed a single victory.

For 1961 engines sizes were limited to 1.5 litres and Ferrari entered their first rear engined car, the Tipo 156. Based on the previous years F2 car Phil Hill took the Drivers Championship and Ferrari their first Constructors title. With little development to the 156 Ferrari failed to win a race in 1962.

In a season dominated by Jim Clark and Lotus, John Surtees put Ferrari back in the winners circle in 1963 with a win Germany following the introduction of the "Aero" 156 semi-monocoque car. With 3 wins in 1964 Surtees won the Drivers titles by a single point from Graham Hill in the last race of the season and Ferrari took their 2nd constructors title.

Clark and Lotus dominated again in 1965 and Ferrari couldn't compete against the British Garagerists. The new 3 litre engine regulations for 1966 proved more successful and John Surtees won in Belgium and Mexico to take 2nd place in the Drivers Championship. The Tipo 312 didn't do well for Ferrari in 1967 with a highest position of 3rd. Jacky Ickx managed a single win for the Scuderia in 1968 at the French Grand Prix. Continuing with the 312 into 1969 Ferrari again had a barren year.

The 1970's

With Ickx back at Ferrari for 1970 and a with B spec version of the 312 Ferrari won four races, three for Ickx and one for young Swiss driver Clay Regazzoni, in his début year in F1. Ickx finished 2nd in the Drivers Championship to Jochen Rindt, F1's first posthumous World Champion, and Ferrari managed the same position in the constructors title race.

Ickx and Mario Andretti won races in 1971 but the season was dominated by Jackie Stewart and his Tyrrell car. Ickx won a single race in 1972 but, as the team continued with the 312B, they were outpaced but Lotus and Tyrrell in 1973.

A young Austrian driver by the name of Niki Lauda was partnered with Regazzoni for 1974 and the team regrouped under the leader ship of Luca di Montezemolo. Lauda won his first race, and Ferrari’s first win since 1972, in Spain. Lauda won again in Holland and Regazzoni in Germany to place Ferrari 2nd in the constructors championship.

Ferrari’s decision to sign Lauda was justified in 1975 as he won the Drivers with some ease, taking 5 race wins. Regazzoni also won the Italian Grand Prix and Ferrari won the Constructors title.

Lauda missed out on the drivers title by a single point to James Hunt in 1976. His season was "interrupted" by an horrific crash at the German Grand Prix at Nurburgring which nearly cost the Austrian his life. Astonishingly Lauda only missed two races but retired at the last race of the season believing the soaking conditions to dangerous to race in. Ferrari won the constructors title.

Lauda was Champion again in 1977 but left the team before the end of the season unhappy at the team's decision to run a 3rd car for Gilles Villeneuve at the Canadian Grand Prix.

For 1978 Ferrari paired Villeneuve alongside Argentine driver Carlos Reutemann. The 312T3, with it's flat 12 engine, wasn't ideal for the new "wing" car technology but Reutemann still managed 4 race wins and Villeneuve took a début win at his home race in Canada.

Reutemann was replaced by Jody Scheckter for 1979 and with the 312 now in T4 guise won the Driver Championship with 4 wins. Villeneuve contributed a further 3 races victories and Ferrari ran away with the Constructors title.

The 1980's

Struggling on with their flat 12 engine for 1980 Ferrari had a dreadful season with 5th place being the best the could manage. Scheckter retired from F1 at the end of 1980 and was replaced by French driver Didier Pironi.

Ferrari moved into a new era in 1981 and introduced a V6 turbo powered car. Although the engine produced plenty of power the 126CK chassis was not quite as good but, in Villeneuve’s hands, Ferrari took two races wins including Monaco, the first for a turbo car in the modern era.

1982 saw a new car designed by Harvey Posthelthwaite which gave their drivers a chassis which could match the engine. However it proved to be a tragic season with Villeneuve losing his life in qualifying at the Belgium Grand Prix and Pironi having an accident which would end his career during practice in Germany. Finishing the season with replacement drivers Patrick Tambay and Mario Andretti, Ferrari won the constructors title.

For 1983 Ferrari had an all French driver line up with Rene Arnoux joining Tambay. Tambay won one race and Arnoux 3 giving Ferrari a 2nd consecutive Constructors title. Michele Alboreto joined Arnoux at Ferrari for 1984 and managed a solitary win at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Arnoux was dismissed from the team after only 1 race in 1985 and was replaced by Swede Stefan Johansson. Alboreto was leading the Drivers championship at the half way point of the season but unreliability cost him the title as he failed to finish the last 5 races of the season.

Ferrari failed to win a race in 1986. For 1987 Gerhard Berger took Johansson's seat and and proved his worth by winning the last two races of the season. Berger won the Italian Grand Prix in 1988 and was the only driver, other than Prost and Senna in McLaren's, to win a race that year.

Nigel Mansell was singed to partner Berger in 1989 and won the opening race of the season. He won again in Hungary and Berger won in Portugal but the Ferrari cars were outclassed by the McLaren machines.

The 90's

1989 World Champion joined Mansell at Ferrari for 1990. Prost and Senna diced for the drivers title through to the Japanese Grand Prix where his hoped were ended when Senna drove into him as they braked for the first corner on the first lap.

Mansell Left Ferrari in 1991 to be replaced by Jean Alesi. Ferrari failed to win a race and Prost's criticism of the team resulted in him being replaced for the last race of the season by Gianni Morbidelli.

1992 to 1995 were lean times for Ferrari win only two wins, Berger in Germany 1994 and Alesi Canada 1995 before double World Champion Michael Schumacher joined the team from Benetton for 1996.

The Schumacher Era

Schumacher won 3 races for Ferrari in 1996 and in 1997 was joined by ex-Benetton engineers Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn. It proved to be an astonishingly successful partnership. Between 1997 and 2006, when Schumacher retired, they dominated the sport. From 149 races Schumacher won 63, took 51 poles, 43 fastest laps and 98 podiums. Schumacher won 5 five successive Drivers Titles between 2000 and 2004 and the team took the Constructors Title from 1999 to 2004.

During his time at Ferrari he was partnered by Eddie Irvine, '96 to '99, Rubens Barrichello, 2000 to 2005, and Felipe Massa for his final season. The period wasn't without controversy as Schumacher had a clause in his contract classifying him as Number 1 driver and on a number of occasions his team mates were required by the team to move aside and let Schumacher gain a higher place resulting in a change to the regulations by the FIA outlawing team orders.

Schumacher retired at the end of 2006 having placed 3rd and 2nd in the Driver title race to Fernando Alonso in 2005 and 2006.

From 2006

Kimi Raikkonen took on the task of filling Schumacher's place in the team for 2007 and duly won the Drivers Title and Ferrari the Constructors. 2008 saw Felipe Massa lose out on the title to Lewis Hamilton as Hamilton took the 5th place he needed two corners from the end of the last race of the season. Ferrrai had the consolation of the Constructors Championship.

Raikkonen and Massa raced together in 2009 and Raikkonen took a single win at the Belgian Grand Prix. Massa was injured in a freak accident at the Hungarian race and his place was taken by Luca Badoer and Giancarlo Fischella. The replacement drivers showed the short comings of the Ferrari 056 chassis and were some distance behind Raikkonen in the races they competed in.

Double World Champion Fernando Alonso took Raikkonen's place for 2010 and, like Mansell in 1989, won a place in the hearts of Ferrari supporters by winning his first race. With 5 wins through the season, including Ferrari’s home race in Italy, he was challenging for the title through to the final round but could only manage 7th in Abu Dhabi losing out on the title to Sebastien Vettel by 4 points.

2011 sees Ferrari continue with Alonso and Massa as their drivers and have named their car the F150th Italia to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italy's foundation as a nation.

 

[cider_and_toast]

I think you're being a bit harsh on Gerhard. His best world championship finishes were two third places which occured the season before he left and the season after he rejoined Ferrari. I also don't think he 'failed' at McLaren. He wasn't as quick as Senna. There's no shame in that and after McLaren's experience with the Prost / Senna years they needed a driver who coud push Senna just not too hard.

Massa left because he couldn't beat (wasn't alowed to beat) Alonso, Alosnos left because he couldn't beat Hamilton / Vettel.

Most drivers who leave a winning team struggle to find another seat where they can do the same. Hill leaving Williams for example had to do more with money than any inter-team politics but still saw his career nose dive there after.

 

[Il_leone]

cider_and_toast the facts don't lie Gerhard was not the same driver although probably exacerbated by the crash he had and being 3 years alongside Ayrton. There were days though he did not seem to bother trying when the car was not working for him and he was not in the mood

Massa left because of the politics forced him out. he was the last of Todt's regime which Luca despised and certainly did his best to remove it by engineering that Schumacher should be treating Raikkonen as an equal teammate and not promoting Ross BRawn to team principal


It is usually the political experience of Ferrari that scars drivers permanently and their careers never recover .. I remember James Hunt mentioning this when he though Alesi was rather naive to join Ferrari with Prost as his teammate

I can cite poor Ivan Capelli for example

 

[Il_leone]

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2015/...moment-for-raikkonen-what-is-ferraris-answer/

My tip being Hulkenberg could gather momentum according to James Allen as two underachieving performances from Raikkonen has put Kimi's seat in the spotlight again

 

[cider_and_toast]

Capelli was lumbered with one of the crappiest Ferraris ever made. Alesi was much closer to Prost in 1991 than Mansell was to Prost in 1990. Everyone knows that Ferrari were pretty much chasing their own tails from the death of the Old Man until Jean Todt brought the ship back onto an even keel in the mid 90's.

I dispute your facts about Gerhard. Yes I think his crash may have taken the edge of his driving and this was hammered further by the death of his close friend in Ayrton but I see little difference in the various stages of his time in F1. Remember his heroic win during his final season at Benetton after coming back from injury and the death of his father ?? Hardly a driver broken by his time at Ferrari.

As for Massa, that's a whole lot of speculation right there. His results in 2010 were pretty close to those of Alonso which was impressive given that he'd missed half a seasons racing due to his head injury, but they went into a decline after the infamous German GP "Faster than you" message. Anyway, Jean Todt brought Kimi to the team so if Luca had a problem with the Todt era why would he have approved his re-signing ??

Yes Ferrari are known to be political players both internally and externally but I don't think there is any evidence to suggest it affects drivers after they have left the team. In the case of someone like Alonso, I'm convinced he was as much responsible for his own lack of success as the team was.

 

[Il_leone]

cider_and_toast Gerhard was clever enough to manage the politics at Ferrari and prolong his career but he was very inconsistent even when the Ferrari had a half decent car.... he was the better qualifier at Ferrari than Alesi but tended to go backwards in races

Yes his win in Hockenheim 97 was a great win but then you ask yourself why could not he do it all the time. As many people pointed out he could amongst the fastest drivers when the car is good and he is up for it or you will find him floundering in 15th position!


Capelli was simply destroyed by the political atmosphere at Ferrari and being Italian it made him feel worse. Alesi whilst fast against Prost was erratic and kept making errors. That is why James Hunt though Alesi made a terrible decision from all the contracts he allegedly signed and not to mention cost Ferrari £10m to buy out the other contracts.


Luca wanted someone to replace Schumacher and Todt still upset about Alonso not signing for him back in 2000 had only really Kimi to pick as a truly world class driver . Mind you Kimi and his management team did manage to swindle a good deal out of Ferrari by convincing them if he is bought in to be Schumacher's successor then he should be at Schumacher's salary not less/
Then Luca started making his moves that Schumacher's time is over and Kimi should be moulded into team leader as well as he thought not enough Italians were in the key senior positions at Ferrari (less said about that then).

Name me drivers who have left Ferrari with a better reputation before they joined ?

Kimi might have been world champion but compared to Schumacher he was a huge disappointment and his last season in 2009 they felt he did not galvanise the team like they expected and were not in a hurry to say how much Alonso was better


Alboreto - who was 2nd in 1985 behind Prost began a gradual decline towards the back of the grid

Arnoux - 3rd in 1983 in the championship and a poor 1984 season followed by his dismissal sooner and he ended a very unhappy man and famous for deliberate blocking faster drivers and his reason for his struggles which was rightly derided by James Hunt

Prost - sacked for speaking out against the politics and his career would have ended on a sour note had he not made on last politically engineered move to sign for Williams and stop Senna joining. By then Senna proved he was the better driver

Alesi - a man of his talents should have got a better record than 1 win in his F1 career and when he went to Benetton he thought he was going to a world class team due the previous seasons' results but he found his time frustrating

Lauda - he quit Ferrari because of the politics and he had simply lost motivation to be competing. Ron Dennis tempting him back was good for PR but it was abundantly clear he was not the same driver and found Prost very hard mentally to compete against

 

[Il_leone]

As for Alonso well only when he hangs up his helmet we can see if his reputation and career has gone further down or not from leaving Ferrari

Even he must have been frustrated at trying to manage the politics to get them competing against Vettel/ Red Bull and Hamilton/ Mercedes at Ferrari

 

[Titch]

I wonder if we'll see Ferrari get over the final hurdle and start fighting for wins (winning even) anytime soon? It can't come quick enough for me.

 

[cider_and_toast]

Il_leone

Name me drivers who have left Ferrari with a better reputation before they joined ?

Where shall I start?

Eddie Irvine, seen as a wreckless nutter who would never fit in at Ferrari, lasted 4 seasons and almost won the world title in Schumachers absence.
Stefan Johanson, bit part player for 4 years until landing a full time Ferrari driver, in his second full season he got the better of Albereto and finished a career best 5th overall. Most people believe Ferrari should have replaced Albereto and not Johanson.
Jody Scheckter, who critics felt wouldnn't get on with the Ferrari mangement but left them a world champion.
Patrick Tambay, arrived in the team with a best finish of 5th in 5 years and without a drive, replaced Gilles Villeneuve and left the team a season and a half later after taking car 27 to a win in Italy.
John Surtees, a driver with a strong reputation but took a world title with Ferrari over the likes of Jim Clark, Graham Hill and Dan Gurney.

Just to name a few.

As for Gerhard, your initial point was that Ferrari broke him and that the politics of the team were responsible for leaving him a poorer driver. On the other hand you have just said that he was clever enough to get around the Ferrari politics. His performances were nothing to do with Ferrari politics, as he told Nigel Roebuck in an interview, it was when he was racing for Mclaren, alongside Senna, he realised that he just wasn't good enough to be a top driver. So I'm not sure how Ferrari played any part in that?

The greatest racing drivers of all time couldn't have done any better in that car than Capelli did, every one knows it was a pile of garbage. As for Alesi, he just wanted to drive for Ferrari. No harm in that is there? Yes his tallent may have lead to more wins with other teams but he remained loyal to Ferrari through a down turn in performance. Given the down turn in form that Hamilton experienced in the last few years with McLaren you could say that it was a similar case to Alesi, not signed to be team number one he was thrust into the role and then stuck around a season or two too many. The only difference of course is that Hamilton was in a car capable of winning the world title.

I notice you missed my point about Massa, I wasn't talking about when they first signed Kimi, I was talking about the team re-signing Kimi. If Luca was so 'anti Todt' forcing Massa out then why would he be happy to endorse the re-signing of Kimi who was another so called 'Todt era' driver and as you put it, the next Schumacher? Massa suffered from his brush with the world championship but more importantly the career check caused by his injury. Having come back in 2010 up until that moment in Germany where Alonso 'was faster' he was doing well against his more infamous team mate. After that, his performances dipped and never fully recovered.

I feel there are a lot of myths that are built up around Ferrari. If Verstappen was to join the team, I see no reason why he couldn't form a working relationship with Vettel and get on with the job at hand.

 

[Il_leone]

cider_and_toast Signing Kimi - re-signing was because they were worried Alonso was going to leave and they needed a supposed top driver to replace him if he did when he apparently was speaking to Red Bull. At the time Kimi was challenging for the title so it seems he still had the hunger to compete at the front

Okay I take your point about the drivers named although it has to be said

Irvine - probably would have stayed longer at Ferrari if he was obedient No 2 but no he suddenly found winning a great feeling before Todt and everyone tried to tell him you signed to be No 2 not No 1 and pretty much sabotaged his championship

Johansson - he only lasted 1 season at Mclaren because they knew he would be a good No 2 to Prost and they were waiting on Senna or Piquet

Tambay - a great mini revival for a nearly man of F1 but then unfairly sacked and his career disappeared into obscurity

Berger - 1989 was a terrible season for him and he left because of the politics ..until he went to Mclaren and realised Senna was on another level and he went back to Ferrari

But 1993-1995 - we did not get the old Berger ... we got the erratic Berger who somehow was still with Ferrari even though he goes through a phase of having some really terrible races. He somehow manages to stay at Ferrari long enough because he learnt to play the politics well the second time round.

He was not the same driver before he left Ferrari first time round


Scheckter joined at a very good time as Reutemann left thinking Lotus was going to be a front runner again and prove not to be . Whilst Gilles Villeneuve was an honest racer and not a political player and on top of that they had the most consistent race car for the season

--------------------------

Capelli - yes the car was terrible but it was the intense political pressure within the team that undid him. Coming from a small close knit team like March/ Leyton House to a political charged environment where you speak to one manager you've made enemies with other managers ..not intentionally.. this was all unsettling for Ivan.

Plus he was not delivering the results and it mentally destroyed him as he had to fend for himself at Ferrari

Alesi - the impression people got was he was very fast and talented and they thought with Benetton this was his chance to win many more races. It left people mystified why he could not win races with Benetton because he's probably as fast as Schumacher and has great car control.

As James Hunt said if he picked Williams he would have been looked after and nurtured and they do not do things like that at Ferrari

Clearly the seasons with Ferrari did not help with his development to be a great race winner although he did put in some spirited drives.

 

[Il_leone]

http://www.bild.de/bild-plus/sport/...472520,var=b,view=conversionToLogin.bild.html

Let the driver merry go round begin

 

[FB]

Meh, the 21st century Thierry Boutsen.

 

[cider_and_toast]

You can't just leave that statement there mate, explain?

 

[FB]

Decent enough driver but not World Champion material. In the right car he might win a few races but more of a No.2 than a No.1. Just like Thierry Boutsen.

 

[Olivier]

Boutsen was a very solid driver, he lacked the killer instinct that is needed to aspire to be World Champion. Capelli was basically useless ans he was probably flattered by the Leyton House performace (a Newey design). Alesi was fantastic as entertainer but with no consistency or self control.

 

[cider_and_toast]

I used to like Thierry Boutsen. For a short while he was an answer in the 'name a famous Belgian' quiz. As far as Bottas goes, it's hard to tell how good he is but he's certainly not pushing Massa as hard as he did last season. Maybe Massa had more car trouble last year which masked his performances against Bottas.

 

[Il_leone]

FB

If Bottas goes to Ferrari I hope Nico Hulkenberg gets the Williams drive then otherwise Alex Lynn.. basically not Werlein or Sutil.

Bottas - the new Thierry Boutsen! whilst the jury is out he's probably better than Thierry

 

[Il_leone]

Olivier That is very harsh on Capelli who generally outperformed Gugelmin when they were teammates. The Ferrari politics destroyed him mentally

 

[Olivier]

Il_leone I don't politics destroyed him, I feel like he needed to be nurtured and Ferrari is really not a place for that (unless you deliver the goods). I think Capelli couldn't measured up to Alesi. While the French was mixing up with the big guys, Capelli was stuck in the mid-field or worse. Gugelmin is probably not a yard-stick you would like to be measured against ...

 

[Il_leone]

Olivier

Capelli went from a little family like British team to a highly political minefield which was Ferrari . Being Italian it did not help either and he quickly lost confidence in himself. Alesi was marginally better and driven by his heart but somehow his volatile nature managed to survive at Ferrari. The detrimental effect of Alesi's time at Ferrari was he underachieved in his career because they did not develop his skills namely car set up and it became more evident when he joined Benetton and could not deliver the results that Schumacher did

 

[Incubus]

Alesi did not do "marginally" better than Capelli in 1992, he well and truly blitzed him. And you left out the tiny matter that the 1996 and subsequent Benettons were nowhere near as competitive as the ones Schumacher drove, which might well have had something to do with the fact that Brawn, Byrne and half the Benetton design staff moved to Ferrari with him.

And again I have to ask, is there any hope at all of a post from you that doesn't have the word "politics" in them?

Alesi does better than Capelli? Bah, it's all politics
Hamilton V Button at McLaren? Bah, it were all politics.
Anything to do with Alonso's time at Ferrari? Bah it was all politics.
Prost V Mansell at ferrari. Bah, Nigel was done in by politics... and so on..