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.
 
Excellent article but just one thing: strictly speaking the 125 wasn't the first racing Ferrari of all. That would have been the tipo 815 which first competed in the mile miglia (sorry about the spelling) in 1940, but Ferrari was legally barred from entering it under the name "Scuderia Ferrari", the legacy of his split from Alfa. He entered it under another name, which I'm damned if I remember. Anybody out there knows it?
 
The interesting thing about Ferrari racing the defunct Lancia cars is that, as originally built and raced, the D50 was probably the most advanced car of its day. The fuel was carried in panniers alongside the cockpit, making for a low polar moment of inertia and the best grip of all the cars. However, when the grip was exceeded, it broke away rather quickly, making it uncomfortable for many of the drivers of the day (a replay of the Auto Union experience in the 1930s). To overcome this "fault", Ferrari moved the fuel tank into the tail of the car, thus gaining predictability at the price of grip. Had the drivers been more adaptable, they probably would have won many more races.
 
The interesting thing about Ferrari racing the defunct Lancia cars is that, as originally built and raced, the D50 was probably the most advanced car of its day. The fuel was carried in panniers alongside the cockpit, making for a low polar moment of inertia and the best grip of all the cars. However, when the grip was exceeded, it broke away rather quickly, making it uncomfortable for many of the drivers of the day (a replay of the Auto Union experience in the 1930s). To overcome this "fault", Ferrari moved the fuel tank into the tail of the car, thus gaining predictability at the price of grip. Had the drivers been more adaptable, they probably would have won many more races.

Time for a new Lancia avatar I reckon.
 
The status quo is actually sub-optimal because Massa has been crushed, isn't much help and he's not pushing Alonso hard enough.

Who's to say another very good driver wouldn't help Ferrari win titles...either by actually beating Alonso to it...or by taking valuable points off the others.

Look at Webber. Webber took points off Alonso both this year and last year and also had himself in the mix of the WDC.

Webber took enough points off Alonso last year to help RBR win the driver's title if you look at it that way...plus he was in with a shout himself.

Ferrari are just not optimizing their driver lineup.

It's plain to see.
 
I'm suprised no one has developed a click on click off system for speed then.

As for Massa - I guess he's just been unlucky that he's had the majority of problems. Think his have just been more noticable though as seem to remember Fernando's had some slow getaways too.

A click on, click off system would be devoid of torque.
 
Ferrari have the problem with the stigmata of "team orders", last year notably at Australia and Malaysia this year Alonso was significantly quicker in the early part of the race but the team refused to tell Massa to release him. The converse in Montreal this year where Massa was much quicker than Alonso and they refused to release Massa.
 
Sadly I wouldn't know as I said Ferrari are not in a position to do that with one challenging driver and the other just lingering with the Mercedes and Renault drivers.
 
Ray can I ask if you were a team manger what situation you would have?

On one hand your berate Mclaren for not making Jenson a clear number 2 and on the other you berate Ferrari for employing that tactic - whilst at the same time praising Red Bull for it. So I'm a bit confused.

Sorry - off topic.

I don't think Massa is the 'crushed' individual people make him out to be - I think all be for a bit of bad luck he's equipt himself well in a difficult situation. Massa's main problem is he had nowhere to go that would offer him a seat as competitive as the Ferrari so he's stuck with the situation
 
Ray can I ask if you were a team manger what situation you would have?

On one hand your berate Mclaren for not making Jenson a clear number 2 and on the other you berate Ferrari for employing that tactic - whilst at the same time praising Red Bull for it. So I'm a bit confused.

Sorry - off topic.

Boy, you're certainly playing fast and loose with my posts. It's never Black & White, you know.

Massa is a subjugated driver and I don't think he's from the Top Drawer. Ferrari can afford another driver who's in the same class as Alonso.

Secondly, I expected McLaren to give it a shot this year and for only Hungary and, possibly, the following races...to ensure Hamilton got closer to Vettel in the WDC.

I don't want McLaren to make Jenson a "clear Number 2" per se'...Only going into the end of July in order catch Vettel in the title...only after Jenson himself admitted he was out of it (realistically).

What am I "praising" Red Bull for? For not being stupid when they asked Webber not to risk a tangle in the final 2 or 3 laps of Silverstone?

You're certainly cutting and pasting things nicely there, my friend. But do try again! ;)

What would I do if I were Ferrari team manager? This:

"I would like to thank Felipe' for his years of service. He won about 10 Grand Prix in our cars and we have mutually decided to part company for now. We have signed Nico Rosberg for 2012."

That's what I would do.

Thanks for asking!
 
K - but should be another thread. What do you do if Rosberg starts out slow but then comes to form in the second half of the season and starts taking points off Fernando and thus damaging his championship challenge?
 
Nothing. I would do nothing. Ferrari need to know how good one is against the other for reasons to do with more than just the near term. If Rosberg comes good then he'll win the World Championship another year.

Did it ever occur to you that Alonso might not be the best driver in F 1?

If he isn't, then wouldn't Ferrari want to know?

If I were team manager, I would!
 
But would you like it if Ferrari had a McLaren situation?

Would you like it if Ferrari hired a driver of very good quality and high confidence and let him fully "race" Nando?

I am a Ferrari fan as much as an Alonso fan, so having two drivers that can push each other for podiums has the dual effect of making drivers push to the limits or have higher standards of performance, and the other is Ferrari will be doing a hell of a lot better if they had 2 competitive drivers.

Question of the day is this, Who can Ferrari employ that will accord to those standards? Kubica has a question mark, Rosberg perhaps but he isn't exactly covering himself in glory, then you have Webber and Button that are locked with their teams, Vettel and Hamilton are number 1's and the respective teams key drivers.......then you get the rest of the field.

If I were in a position to choose, I think if we write off Kubica, Rosberg is a guy I would like to see in a top tier team to guage how good he really is. I also like Perez being a Ferrari acadamy driver to is a interesting prospect, that said he may find a top tier car and pressure a little tougher than the easy to drive Sauber, but those are the growing pains of making it big in Formula 1.
 
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