Ferrari F1 puts the red cars of Maranello at the center of the world ’s most demanding cast of motorsport .
This clause tells the story of the sleek , unfastened - wheel unmarried - backside Ferraris that compete in the most technically need form of auto racing . With racing circuit on every continent , no other form of auto racing matches Formula 1 for financial stakes , worldwide audience , diachronic sweep , or sheer glamour .
Discover how Ferrari ’s involution began before this was known as F1 , with fellowship founderEnzo Ferrariin connection with Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo as a race driver and team manager .
do it before World War II as Grand Prix racing , it adopted the name Formula 1 in 1947 . Ferrari ’s first F1 railcar , the125 F1 , appeared in 1948 . Since then , Ferrari F1 auto have won more race and more world championships than any other maker ’s .
This article has profiles and pictures of such classic Ferrari F1 car as the375 F1,D50 , andDino 156 F1 , as well as the inside story on modern - daytime mount like theF1 - 2000and F2007 .
Learn about the immortal driver who entrance world title in Ferrari 1 auto , from Alberto Ascari and Juan Manuel Fangio in the 1950s , through Phill Hill and John Surtees in the 1960s , Niki Lauda and Jody Scheckter in the seventies , properly up to Michael Schumacher ’s unique run of five consecutive title go in 2000 .
The thrilling report of the motorcar and men who make up the Ferrari F1 saga begins on the next page .
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Ferrari 125 F1
After World War II , Formula 1 took longer to gel than athletics - car competition . It was called Grand Prix racing prior to the war , when it was a technical tour de force and teams benefited from government backing as part of the political propaganda machine . After the warfare , finance for proper engine room , materials , fuel , and even the locale was in short supply .
When Ferrari entered the affray in 1948 , he used his 125 S sport - automobile driver as the starting point for the first Ferrari Grand Prix racer , the 125 F1 . Like the sport - racer , it used Ferrari ’s compact , mellow - rev up 1497cc V-12 . But chief applied scientist Gioachino Colombo exploited F1 rules and comply the era ’s distinctive drill of supercharging . This boosted horsepower from 118 in the 125 S to 230 . Both used a five - speed gearbox .
Known originally as the 125 Grand Prix , this was the first unmarried - seater to wear the Ferrari badge . Its torpedo - shaped torso was a pleasing design , with a large eggcrate grille , farsighted nose , exposed wheel , and proper proportions . The shape was of steel tubes with struts and crossmembers . The front suspension follow the lead of the 125 S , with double wishbones , a transverseleaf give , and shock absorbers . In the keister were longitudinal struts , a torsion bar , and shock absorbers .
The Ferrari 125 F1 first appeared in September at the subspecies in Turin . Three start , and the one drive by Raymond Sommer finished third overall . A month later , Giuseppe “ Nino ” Farina drove a Ferrari 125 F1 to Ferrari ’s first Grand Prix victory , at Garda , in Italy .
The winner at Turin , and the car to beat during this period in F1 , were the Type 158s from Alfa Romeo . Four of the advanced monopostos had survived the war , and with a bit of restoration , they were predominate the competition . Ironically , it was Enzo himself who had helped build the foundation for this dominance in his prewar Erolia minutilla at the helm of Alfa ’s racing try .
For the 1949 Italian Grand Prix at Monza , Ferrari introduced a unexampled 125 . This motorcar had a longer soma with like underpinnings , but the big news was the locomotive engine . It now had double overhead cams and a two - stage Rootes supercharger , hike up HP to 280 .
Formula 1 as a description for Grand Prix racing came into use in 1947 , with the establishment of the sport ’s governing body , the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile ( FIA ) , headquartered in Paris . In 1950 , the FIA established F1 ’s World Championship of Drivers , based on points per race . The FIA would not point an F1 constructors championship until 1958 , so in these early year , the manufacturers looked to the drivers for reflected glory .
Late in 1950 , Ferrari shortened the 125 ’s chassis and modify the rear suspension by using a de Dion tube andleaf spring . The young four - focal ratio gear case became integral with the final drive . That made the car super free-enterprise , but it still was n’t enough to unseat Alfa Romeo . Alfa come through all six Grand Prix races it embark and its driver Nino Farina , who had leave Ferrari after the 1949 time of year , was F1 ’s first globe champion .
Ferrari 375 F1
The last 125 served as the footing for the Ferrari 375 F1 , the model that broke Alfa Romeo ’s stranglehold on Formula 1 .
Rules reserve use of a 1.5 - liter engine with supercharger or a utmost of 4.5 - liters with innate aspiration . Supercharging generated unbelievable power , and had been Alfa ’s strength . But boost also take in lots of fuel , and Ferrari now felt it was his principal rival ’s Achilles ' hound .
And so was hold the Ferrari 375 F1 . It continued use of the 125 ’s cannular chassis in its longer wheelbase form of 91.3 inch ( 2320 mm ) . The break and four - speed gearbox were carried over . But instead of a supercharge 1.5 , the V-12 was a naturally aspirate 4.5 - liter of 330 - 380 HP . This was the apogee of an Aurelio Lampredi - designed series of unsupercharged Ferrari F1 V-12s that began as a 3322cc unit in the 275 F1 , keep abreast by a 4101cc engine for the 340 F1 .
The 4.5 made its first appearance at the all - important Italian Grand Prix at Monza in September 1950 . It just leave out setting the terminal , and ran a penny-pinching second for the majority of the slipstream before sack out with six circle to go .
But the die had been cast , and the man who puncture Alfa ’s F1 laterality was a untested Argentinean in his first twelvemonth as a Ferrari works driver . Froilan Gonzalez , 29 , was the Logos of a Chevrolet dealer and an vastly talented driver who in the first place come to Europe as a companion for ruralist Juan Manuel Fangio . Fangio was now take for Alfa , and the turn full point was July 14 , 1951 , at the British Grand Prix .
“ Two to three days before the British Grand Prix Juan repel me around the Silverstone circle in the Alfa , ” Gonzales recalled inFerrari 1947 - 1997.“’Pepe , ’ he said after we had studied the course , ‘ I think you are going to win this one . ’ ”
Fangio was correct . The Alfas were passing thirsty , averaging just 1.8 mpg , giving Ferrari the vantage of one fewer fuel full point , vital in what for the point was a unforesightful airstream .
“ I still have a exposure of us looking across at each other as we beat back side by side down the main straight , ” Gonzales remember . “ But his vantage went away at his first pit stop when his crew put in too much fuel , making his car too laboured . ”
The stocky Argentinean beat Fangio to the checkered fleur-de-lis . That end an awesome run in which Alfa Romeos had finish first in every postwar Grand Prix upshot in which they were entered , more than two dozen races in all . The triumph over his former employer was a satisfying , if poignant , initiate to Enzo Ferrari ’s F1 bequest .
An interesting footnote to F1 ’s first decade was that all its races , typically eight or so per time of year , were consort in Europe – with one renowned exception . From 1950 to 1960 , America ’s Indianapolis 500 was among the events calculate toward the F1 world backing . Thus , fabled Indy 500 winners such as Bill Vukovich and Rodger Ward are lean among drivers with F1 point .
For the traditional F1 field , travel to America for one race was airy , and Indy was never handle gravely as a points opportunity . But Ferrari ’s U.S. importer and chief booster , Lugi Chinetti , saw the publicity possibilities .
Ferrari thus prepared a sport of the Ferrari 375 F1 to run in the Memorial Day classic . Called the 375 Indy , its course aspirated 4.5 - liter was tune for 400 horsepower , the chassis was strengthened , and aerodynamics were ameliorate . As a shakedown test , three were sent to the 1953 Turin Grand Prix , where Luigi “ Gigi ” Villoresi ’s finished first .
A fourth was prepared for Ferrari employment driver Alberto Ascari , and he qualified it for the ’ 52 Indy 500 at just over 134 miles per hour , good enough to start in nineteenth position . The red 375 proved ill - accommodate to a foresightful afternoon of punishment at the Brickyard , however . It go 40 laps , spin in the fourth turn when a steering wheel hub collapsed . It was the only Ferrari to vie in an Indy 500 .
Ferrari 500 F2
After the 375 F1 triumph at Silverstone in 1951 , Ferrari easily defeated Alfa Romeo ’s 159s in the next two races , put up a showdown at the season ’s final backwash in Spain . Alfas finished first and third , Ferraris second and fourth . That make the title to Alfa machine driver Juan Manuel Fangio .
But it was evident that the 159 and its supercharged engine were no longer capable of hold off Ferrari and its larger , course aspirate V-12 . Alfa ’s possessor , the Italian government , was unwilling to contribute funds to the company to recrudesce an all - unexampled car , so at the end of the time of year , Alfa Romeo reluctantly withdrew from racing .
With Alfa gone , the FIA recognise that Formula 1 face a serious shortcoming . There were no other strong contender to challenge Ferrari , let alone replete the grid . In April 1952 , a decision was made to use the less - expensive Formula 2 series for the World Championship . F2 had been democratic since its inception in 1948 , due in part to its limiting maximum engine capacity to 2.0 - l .
Ferrari was quick . He began vie in F2 with the V-12 - powered 166 F2 . This was , in essence , a limited 166 Spyder Corsa sports - racing car . For 1949 , the 166 F2 used a 125 F1 chassis , winning every race in which it enter . In 1950 it won 13 of 17 races .
In charge of 1952 ’s F2 project was Ferrari chief applied scientist Aurelio Lampredi . “ I would go into the manufacturing plant on Sunday dawning to look over my affairs , ” he recite inFerrari I Quattro Cilindri . “Ferrari turned up and told me they ’d plunge the new undertaking , an F2 with 2000cc electrical capacity .
“ ‘ What would you do ? ’ he need .
“ ’ I ’d make a 4 - piston chamber , ’ I reply .
“ ’ Do make me a sketch then , now . ’ ”
A few intense hour subsequently , Lampredi was finished . The 185- horsepower 1985cc inline - four was placed in a frame that survey lesson learned in F1 . The combination was almost invincible .
The Ferrari 500 F2 get ahead seven of eight backwash in 1952 , and made squad driver Alberto Ascari Ferrari ’s first Earth sensation . The car gain seven of nine races in 1953 , and Ascari was again human beings champion .
On the mode to his two titles , the former bike racing car from Milan finished first in nine consecutive slipstream in which the Ferrari 500 F2 vie . It was a Grand Prix book that would last the C , and beyond .
Ferrari D50
In 1954 , the Grand Prix mankind championship ended its two - year respite under Formula 2 linguistic rule and was reconstituted under revised Formula 1 regulations . Now , locomotive engine capacity was limited to 2.5 - liters of course suck out or 750cc supercharged .
Like most competitors , Ferrari went the naturally aspirated itinerary . He continued purpose of Lampredi - designed four - piston chamber engines in an update of his 553 F2 car called the 553 F1 . ( The 533 F1 ’s generous middle prompt some of a shark ’s torso , and the car was nickname “ Squalo . ” )
But there were two pricker in Ferrari ’s side that time of year . First , the 250 F from crosstown rival Maserati was a masterfully balanced political machine , and it deliver the goods the year ’s first two races . Then Mercedes - Benz enter F1 in the time of year ’s 4th race , and thereafter dominated the proceedings , winning the backup behind the drive of Juan Manuel Fangio .
At 1954 ’s last race , in Spain , Lancia entered the fray . The Turin automaker ’s groundbreaking Vittorio Jano - designed Ferrari D50 showed considerable hope , setting fastest overlap before retiring with mechanical problems . No one could know that Lancia would influence Ferrari ’s hazard in a most unexpected way of life .
For 1955 , Ferrari revise his car ’ build , suspension , and bodywork and coaxed more horsepower out of the locomotive . The new racer was call the 555 F1 “ Super Squalo , ” but it was to no help . Mercedes dominated the time of year , the “ Super Squalo ’s ” lonely victory coming at Monaco .
Soon after the beginning of the season , racing lost one of its deity . Two - time world champion Alberto Ascari pass away at Monza in the wreck of a Ferrari he had borrow for practice . Ascari was at the time Lancia ’s lead F1 equipment driver . Lancia was already see fiscal troubles , and Ascari ’s death was another layer of miserableness .
In July , after prolong negotiations , Lancia handed over to Ferrari six D50s and the services of engineer Vittorio Jano . Fiat harmonise to offer financial support so Ferrari could compete against the German onslaught .
The Ferrari D50 was dilute with invention . It boasted F1 ’s first V-8 engine . Its gear box and clutch were in unit of measurement with the final drive . And it wore its fuel tank as bodyside pod . The tanks ’ placement helped in weight distribution and act as aero - dynamics aids .
Still , it was n’t enough to unseat Mercedes , and Fangio again won the 1955 humans championship . But in the wake of the 1955 carnage at Le Mans , Mercedes decided to withdraw from Grand Prix and sports - motorcar racing .
Fangio come in over to Ferrari for the ’ 56 F1 crusade . The Ferrari D50 develop , with Ferrari ’s men make a modify dead body that incorporated the main fuel supplying in the tail while retain the side fuel pod as auxiliary cooler . The suspension was modify , and extra brace was engage in the engine compartment .
Fangio and the Ferrari D50 claimed the earthly concern championship for Ferrari , its first since Ascari ’s in 1953 . It was a thrillingly tight title bearing , the with child Argentinean finishing with 30 title points to 27 for Stirling Moss in the Maserati . Ferrari ’s Peter Collins was third , with 25 .
Ferrari Dino 246 F1
For 1957 , Ferrari continued modify the Lancia D50 , now name it the 801 . But the car had changed so much it was unrecognizable from its original guise .
The coachwork was all different , the front and rear hiatus changed , the V-8 ’s bore and stroke modified . Alas , its best individual race results were three second - place finish , and Ferrari issue forth in a distant smuggler - up to Maserati in the Grand Prix season .
But there were benefit to what appeared to be a bleak campaign . Ferrari was having great achiever in Formula 2 with its superb Dino 156 ( 1.5 - liters , 6 - cylinders ) . Named for Ferrari ’s first son , the 156 served as the basis for 1958 ’s Ferrari Dino 246 F1 .
In Formula 1 pretext , the six - cylinder engine was enlarged to 2417cc , good for 280 H.P. . The model was first tried at the final F1 race of 1957 , then reelect for 1958 with a number of modifications . These include telescopic shocks in front , and saucer brakes in place of large drums in the fundament .
identify by the clear cover over its sextet of carburetor gobs , the Ferrari Dino 246 F1 prompt team number one wood Mike Hawthorn to the F1 humans backing , the third for a Ferrari driver . The title was pull ahead through consistency .
Over the 10 races , Hawthorn had only one victory , at Reims in France , but his five indorsement and one third were enough to snare the title by one breaker point over fellow Brit Stirling Moss , who had four triumph driving the Cooper - Climax and Vanwall railroad car . ( This was the first yr in which the FIA established an F1 Constructors Championship to go along with the driver ’s crown . Vanwall beat out Ferrari for the ’ 58 title . )
The Dino returned in 1959 as the Ferrari Dino 246 F1 . It was a prettier car , with more sleek bodywork , and was fit with Dunlop phonograph recording bracken at each turning point , a new reprieve , and a 2474cc V-6 .
Ferrari pass both the Ferrari Dino 246 F1 and 256 F1 during 1959 , but was still at a disadvantage in a time of year that mark a watershed change in motorsport .
Brit Tony Brooks was a Ferrari team driver that yr , and piloted the Ferrari Dino 246 F1 to triumph in the Gallic and German Grands Prix . But he finish second in the point hunt to Australian Jack Brabham , 31 to 27 . Brabham ’s championship was the first in F1 to be won in a rear - engine railway car .
As Brooks excuse inFerrari 1947 - 1997:“Our Dino - engined V6 cars were strong and reliable , but on dull and average - speed circuits they were no mates for the lightweight rear - engine British cars . Even at the fast Reims circuit Jack Brabham was quick enough to split Phil Hill and me on the front row of the grid . It was only thanks to our superior power that I was able to pull away from Brabham at the start and direct all the fashion to the finish . ”
In 1960 , it was n’t even close . The lonesome Dino triumph was Phil Hill ’s at Monza , as Brabham and the rear - engine Cooper - Climax ran aside from the field to take both the driver and constructors championship . Lotus - Climax was 2d , Ferrari third .
Ferrari Dino 156 F1
Ferrari ’s single triumph in the 1960 F1 campaign for certain did n’t reflect well on the Scuderia , but actions behind the view demonstrate Enzo wager the Grand Prix biz better than anyone .
When , in October 1958 , the FIA announced that starting in 1961 locomotive content would be reduce from 2500cc to 1500cc , the British team protested loudly and threatened to withdraw . Ferrari simply shrug his shoulders and had his men make a railway car to fulfil the new specifications .
Ferrari main engineer Carlo Chiti and his work party once again eviscerate on their Formula 2 experience to make their F1 auto . The result , the Ferrari Dino 156 F1 , was not unfamiliar in some respect : nerve tubular chassis and independent suspension front and rear with double wishing bone , coil springs and cannular shocks , and Dunlop disc brakes at each corner . But there was one characteristic somewhat foreign to Ferrari : The locomotive was in the tooshie .
Ferrari had actually debuted its first butt - engine F1 car in 1960 , at the season ’s first race in Monaco . It was essentially an experiment , and , tug by Richie Ginther , it finished a aloof sixth . The motorcar continued to race the rest of the year as for the most part a ontogeny exercise , then was modified over the winter by Chiti .
He swapped its 65 - grade V-6 for a more - powerful 120 - degree V-6 . That propelled what would become one of the most distinctive of all Ferrari backwash cars . The Ferrari Dino 156 F1 had an evocative duplicate anterior naris “ sharknose ” and attractive arse bodywork that insert the locomotive , gearbox , and hold tight . The auto was beautiful , successful , and historic .
With it , Phil Hill in 1961 became the first American F1 world champion , beating out teammate Wolfgang von Trips by a single point . Their operation helped Ferrari win its first official F1 constructor title .
But the good fortune would n’t dribble into 1962 . In November 1961 , Maranello was rock by the ill-famed Purge , in which Chiti , squad manager Romolo Tavoni , and a issue of others left the firm . The 1962 F1 season was a disaster , exacerbated by the fact that the British team were running unattackable V-8s . Ferrari did n’t grade a triumph and finished tied for fifth in a constructors championship won by BRM .
For 1963 , the 156 got a revise physical structure that switch the sharknose for a single - inlet phase . New chief railroad engineer Mauro Forghieri did his best to improve the mechanical package with a retool suspension and by and by , a semimoncoque chassis . Still , Ferrari mark just one triumph , a profits at Germany ’s Nurburgring by former motorcycle man champion John Surtees . It wind up fourth among eight constructors in a makes championship get ahead by Lotus - Climax .
Ferrari 512 F1
In practice for the 1963 Italian Grand Prix the Scuderia showed it was already looking ahead to the 1964 campaign . Alongside the V-6 Dino models that would actually contest the race , it test a newfangled motorcar , the 158 F1 . The name signified its 1.5 - litre 8 - piston chamber engine , a 90 - grade V - powerplant good for 210 HP , a more than 10 per centum increase in output over the F1 V-6 .
The chassis also keep up new thinking . Instead of being Ferrari ’s customary gathering of electron tube , it was a monocoque social structure tailor - made for the engine and featured aluminium jury pore to its fabric . The V-8 had an passing unattackable crankcase , so it was used a distressed member .
The 158 F1 did n’t capture a checkered flag until the ’ 64 time of year ’s sixth race , but thereafter , team number one wood John Surtees and Lorenzo Bandini were consistent podium finisher . It was enough to give Ferrari the builder title over BRM , and for Surtees to win the World Driving Championship , the fifth Ferrari equipment driver to do so . Surtees ’ security deposit at the goal was one compass point over fellow Englishman Graham Hill in the BRM .
Interestingly , Ferrari ’s F1 coloring material for the final two races of the season switched from red to the naughty and white of Luigi Chinetti ’s North American Racing Team – side effect from Enzo ’s dispute with international racing authorities over the homologation of the 250 LM sport - race car .
The imbroglio did nothing to dim the sheen of the time of year for Surtees . “ The good of my years in Italy , as far as motor racing was concerned , was 1964 , the year of the F1 world title with the Ferrari 158 , ” the seven - metre motorcycle world champion recall inFerrari 1947 - 1997 .
Though the 158 F1 ran again in 1965 , Ferrari ’s linchpin F1 machine that time of year was the Ferrari 512 F1 . It had a 225 - horsepower 1490cc “ flat ” 12 rather of the V-8 . The car looked serious on paper , but no rival was a match for Lotus and Jim Clark ; they master to take the builder and driver championship . The best the Ferrari 512 F1 could muster was two second - place finishes .
It would be 11 days before another Ferrari driver was F1 world champion .
Such technologies as the monocoque structure and the flat-12 demonstrated that Ferrari could receive fresh musical theme in rush . More difficult was cover with the divers factor tugging the company this fashion and that .
“ Where Ferrari is worry , I do have one regret , ” Surtees noted . “ I could have gain another three world titles , in 1963 , 1965 , and 1966 , when the cylinder capability for Formula 1 was increase from 1500cc to 3000cc . But , for one reason or another , we end up by generate away an incredible number of victories .
“ [ A]t Ferrari in those years [ there were an ] unbelievable number of activities , which lead inevitably to energy being expend in different sector . For example , when railroad car had to be prepared for Le Mans , Formula 1 was clearly overlooked , although we could pay off in part for our disappointments by the success of the sportsman prototype cars . I must say the Ferrari ‘ atomic number 15 ’ model , from the 250 to 275 , P2 and P3 , were marvellous automobile to drive , very sinewy , very well - balanced and a joy to slipstream . ”
Ferrari 312 F1
For 1966 , Formula 1 again changed its engine rules , now allow up to 3.0 - cubic decimetre displacement by nature aspirated or 1.5 supercharged . Ferrari was ready . Chief engineer Mauro Forghieri turned to the company ’s summercater - bucket along 3.3 - l V-12 . He left the caliber at 77 mm , tighten stroke 5 mm to 53.5 mm , and came up with a deracination of 2989cc . He increase the densification proportion , match twincam head with two plugs per cylinder , and topped it off with Lucas fuel injection .
The resulting elevator car was address the Ferrari 312 F1 . Though Ferrari ’s John Surtees started the racing calendar with a win in the nonchampionship South African Grand Prix in January , he felt the 312 lacked power . During the official F1 time of year , he and team director Eugenio Dragoni were constantly battling . Surtees would win in Belgium in June , but by September had lead the team . Ludovico Scarfiotti ’s victory in Italy answer for for Ferrari ’s only other F1 profits , as it finished a distant second to Brabham - Repco for the constructors title .
For 1967 , the Ferrari 312 F1 used a revised 36 - valve V-12 , and the chassis was modified to make it light . But the updates were to no avail . Ferrari did n’t deliver the goods an F1 wash .
It did win the next twelvemonth , but just once : Jacky Ickx ’s triumph in France . The Ferrari 312 F1 now unravel four - valve head that help make it the first F1 Ferrari with more than 400 horsepower . Perhaps the season ’s most remarkable Ferrari mo came in June at the Belgium Grand Prix , where Maranello introduced an sleek aid that trip up everyone ’s attention .
A bit of cable car had experimented with small wings on the nose and rear , but Ferrari mounted an aerofoil on reinforcement high above the gearbox , just behind the cockpit . By September , at Monza , the fender could be controlled by the driver .
The Ferrari 312 F1 failed to score a triumph in 1969 . After the Italian Grand Prix , the eighth race of the 11 - race season , Ferrari temporarily draw back from F1 to decoct on development of its newfangled flat-12 engine . Luigi Chinetti ’s North American Racing Team flow the cars in the final three races , the undecomposed end a twenty percent by Pedro Rodriguez at Watkins Glen . In all , the 312 won just three race in four F1 time of year .
Ferrari 312 T Series
Ferrari ’s drouth in Formula 1 continued well into the seventies , unbosom only briefly by a second - place show in the 1970 constructors championship . Its F1 railway car that time of year was the innovative 312 B , which had a semistress - digest flat-12 engine ; it win four race .
A burr under Maranello ’s saddle that season – since 1967 , in fact – was the Ford DFV V-8 . Built by Cosworth and financed by Ford Motor Company , this stupendous locomotive won its very first clip out at Zandfoort , in a Lotus , and would soon spread to most every other team .
In 1974 , the lunar time period get to sour . Ferrari back out from endurance sport - gondola racing to concentrate its resources on Formula 1 . It hired Austrian Niki Lauda , late of BRM , as its No . 1 racing driver . main engineer Mauro Forghieri return after a one - year absence seizure . And Luca Cordero di Montezemolo became team director and was a staggeringly equalizing force , eradicating much of the political intrigue that hounded the team .
With the last of the 312 Bs , the 312 B3 , Lauda succeed the Spanish and Dutch Grands Prix , mate Clay Regazzoni bring home the bacon in Germany , and Ferrari finished secondly to McLaren - Ford in the constructors championship
For 1975 , Ferrari inaugurate the Ferrari 312 T Series . The “ T ” stood fortransversaleand betoken that the five - speed gear case was climb east - west onwards of the rearward axle for a good centre of soberness . The pause was vary front and rear , and Lauda ’s brilliant ability as a test number one wood honed the machine .
The Ferrari 312 T embark competition in the time of year ’s third race , in South Africa . By the sixth wash , at Monaco , it and Lauda were in the achiever ’s roofy . In all , the Ferrari 312 T win six of the last 11 races . Lauda was man star , and Ferrari had its first constructors title since 1964 .
Ferrari and Lauda appeared well on their way to a repetition in 1976 , with the 312 T2 . Underneath , the car was about identical to the 312 T. But the eubstance was quite unlike , with in high spirits side panels and different wings and plunderer . With Lauda and Regazzoni , the 312 T2 won five of the yr ’s first eight races .
Then , in the German Grand Prix at Nurburgring , Lauda had a horrendous , life sentence - jeopardize crash . He was pulled from his flaming 312 T2 by four fellow drivers and a track marshall ; a non-Christian priest read him the last rite in the hospital .
Miraculously , Lauda recuperate , and incredibly , was back in a 312 T2 five weeks later for the Italian Grand Prix . He polish off fourth . Ferrari conglomerate enough pointedness to repeat as constructor champion . Lauda take out from the season ’s last race , in Japan , because of appalling , monsoonlike condition , and lose the equipment driver ’s title by one point to McLaren - Ford ’s James Hunt .
The 312 T2 return in 1977 , and Lauda ’s loss of the driving patronage in 1976 seemed a flue . He and teammate Carlos Reutemann consistently score points , often put on the soapbox . Ferrari conveniently won the constructors crown , and Lauda had his second driver ’s title .
Nonetheless , the season was go after with controversy . Animosity between Lauda and the team over a number of incidents during the 1976 campaign make the World Champion to leave Ferrari at the end of the 1977 season . ( Lauda and Enzo Ferrari patched up their disagreements years later . )
Ferrari ’s mount in 1978 was the 312 T3 , which showed important differences from the T2 in aerodynamics and front suspension . It was acquaint at the South African Grand Prix , the season ’s third airstream . Carlos Reutemann won with it in the 4th slipstream , the U.S. Grand Prix West , at Long Beach , California . He pull ahead two more races in the car , and Gilles Villeneuve won one as Ferrari pose second to Lotus - Ford in the builder title .
In 1979 , Ferrari brought in as its No . 1 number one wood Jody Scheckter , who had driven for Wolf - Ford the previous season . The South African and the Canadian Villeneuve proved the consummate GP shred team .
“ We were n’t just teammates , ” Scheckter recalled inFerrari 1947 - 1997,“we were friends and desire to work together to advance races , so we made an agreement to share all our technical selective information . ”
The arrangement worked quite well , indeed . The duet finished 1 - 2 in the debut of Ferrari ’s novel car , the 312 T4 , in South Africa for the season ’s third slipstream . The T4 correspond Ferrari ’s transition from mere areo purpose to dead on target primer coat issue , in which the cable car ’s structure and shape managed airflow along the sides and underbelly to render maximum adhesion .
Each the winner of three races , Scheckter was World Champion , Villeneuve was runner - up , and Ferrari handily won the make claim , its fourth in five years .
The next season saw the net development of the 312 serial , the 312 T5 . Bodywork was once again modified , but the rapidly changing skill of priming effects had move beyond what Ferrari could do with its flat-12 engine , a powerplant that was wider and thus more difficult to package in damage of airflow management than the Ford - Cosworth V-8 that power Alan Jones and his Williams - Ford to the backup .
The 312 T5 ’s best showings were fifth - space finish at Long Beach , Monaco , and Canada . Ferrari was renowned for its 12 - cylinder engines , but the close of the 1980 season marked a stop of nine days before one of its F1 cars would again be power by a twelve .
Ferrari 126 C Series
The 312 ’s flat-12 locomotive engine had been Ferrari ’s keystone F1 powerplant for a decade , but in 1980 , the handwriting was on the bulwark . Even as the squad speed with little winner that season , Ferrari was hard at study grow a state - of - the - fine art turbo - charged engine . It was unveiled on the 2nd practice session day for the Italian Grand Prix at Imola in September , and it was a half - second base quicker than the naturally aspirate flat-12 312 T5 .
Development cover over the winter for what would be called the 126 C. It recapitulate Ferrari ’s tradition of a tube-shaped structure frame overlie with Al sheeting , but was powered by a 1496cc V-6 with two German KKK turbochargers , a duet of intercoolers , and four valves per cylinder . Horsepower was quote at 540 , 25 more than Ferrari ’s most - potent flat-12 .
Despite its newness , the engine proved unco true , but the build was a handful . Still , on the effectiveness of Gilles Villeneuve ’s genius and the unexampled engine ’s stupendous mightiness , the 125 C won the Monaco Grand Prix , just its sixth airstream . The Canadian acquire again in Spain , but wrecks and form problems chivvy the squad the rest of the year , and Ferrari finished fifth among 11 entry in 1981 constructors points .
To correct the anatomy site for 1982 , Ferrari hire Englishman Harvey Postlehwaite . His 126 C2 chassis of composite materials reinforced by atomic number 6 fiber made all the remainder , as did an even more - powerful turbo railway locomotive .
But equipment driver Villeneuve and Frenchman Didier Pironi were never the team that Jody Scheckter and Villeneuve had been . When Pironi deprived Villeneuve of a triumph at Imola against team society , the two never spoke again .
Then , in May 1982 , racing misplace one of its stars . In practice for the Grand Prix of Belgium , Villeneuve crashed the Ferrari . He die in the infirmary hours later on . In June , a crash in Canada sideline Pironi for the time of year . Frenchman Patrick Tambay and American Mario Andretti fulfil in ably , sustaining enough points for Ferrari to come through it first constructors championship since 1979 .
With ground - effects side bird banned for 1983 , Ferrari ’s 126 C3 register wholly revised bodywork . Tambay was joined by countryman Rene Arnoux as team driver and they cease third and fourth , respectively , in points . Arnoux ’s three victory , Tambay ’s one , and systematically in high spirits finish were enough to seize for the Scuderia a second consecutive constructors backing .
In 1984 , the 126 C4 and the rest of the field were outclass by McLaren ’s MP4 and its driver Niki Lauda and Alain Prost . They won 12 of the season ’s 16 races , and Ferrari finished a aloof instant in the builder Salmon Portland Chase .
F1 ’s Turbo era live on through 1988 , but Ferrari ’s only other strong showing come in 1985 , with the 156/85 . It boasted Maranello ’s first bodyshell design completely by computer . Italian Michele Alboreto won twice with it , at Canada and Germany , and the team finish second to McLaren - TAG for the builder championship .
Ferrari F1 641
In the second half of the 1980s , Formula 1 ’s turbocharged locomotive were producing exceptional force – Ferrari ’s F1/86 and F1/87 delivered almost 1,000 horses in qualifying , and virtually 900 in race trim . In an exertion to calm down things down , the FIA for 1988 dramatically reduce the allowed turbo encouragement . For 1989 , it banned turbos entirely .
The return to of course aspirated engine saw Ferrari once again utilize the V-12 . The one in its F1/89 displaced 3498cc , had five valve per cylinder ( 3 intake , 2 exhaust ) , and produced 600 horsepower at 12,500 rev .
But the adult news the was the F1/89 ’s gearbox . It was an design that revolutionized race- and sportsman - railroad car engineering science .
Ferrari had develop a seven - speed electro - hydraulic transmission that was , in marrow , a manual gearbox that could be upshifted or downshifted automatically by touching a switch on the back of the steering wheel . No longer did the driver have to transfer his hands from the steering wheel and reach for a shift lever to change appurtenance . The advantages were unacceptable to ignore , and soon every F1 competition had a version of Ferrari ’s innovative gearbox . Within a few years , paddle - shifted manuals would be in many high - performance route auto as well , include several from Ferrari .
The F1/89 come from the drawing control panel of Ferrari ’s England based designer , John Barnard , and the cable car got off to a magnificent start when it won the ’ 89 season ’s first race , at Brazil , with Brit Nigel Mansell drive . Then electronic gremlins started hunt the gondola . Mansell won the time of year ’s ninth race , in Hungary , and Gerhard Berger acquire in Portugal . But that was it , and the squad finished a distant third in the makes chase .
Ferrari was optimistic about 1990 . It had a unexampled elevator car , the Ferrari F1 641 . It had revised bodywork , and the V-12 had a short stroke , weighed less , and produced virtually 700 horsepower . Joining Mansell in the cockpit was one of the existence ’s top drivers , Alain Prost . The Frenchman was come off his third F1 world championship , conquer just the year before with McLaren - Honda .
The season turned into a dogfight between Ferrari and McLaren , then into one between Prost and Mansell . The intra - squad contention was much to the hurt of Ferrari .
“ If we had been able to cooperate as I had hop-skip , ” Prost observed inFerrari 1947 - 1997,“I am sure Ferrari would have had a humanity championship to celebrate that year . ”
alternatively , it was as close as Ferrari would come to another makes or machine driver ’s title for almost a decade . Prost lose the championship in the season ’s last race , when archrival Ayrton Senna advertize his Ferrari off the Australian Grand Prix ’s Adelaide Street Circuit . Senna won the race and the claim , in a McLaren - Honda .
Ferrari 412 T2
After losing the 1990 constructors backing to McLaren - Honda by just 11 points , Ferrari fall into muddiness , and the squad went three full seasons without a victory . The car that broke the patch was 1994 ’s 412 T1 .
The 412 T1 commemorate two returns . First , Ferrari revived a schematic pushrod suspension organization ; 1993 ’s F93A had used an electronically controlled active suspension organization that was beset with reliableness emergence . secondly , it welcomed back engineer John Barnard , who had been briefly lured away by Benetton .
With more - efficient airflow management and improved equalizer , the 412 T1 shew Barnard ’s talent for original intellection . He substantially redesign the nose , stool it higher than the F93A ’s . And he moved the air ducts on the side pod , and thus the radiators , further forward .
The automobile proved relatively reliable , and Ferrari secured stump polish in the season ’s first five race . But the railway locomotive was starving for air , so the modified 412 T1B made its debut at the French Grand Prix in July , the year ’s seventh race .
Gerhard Berger wind up third with the car , and two races later let on Ferrari ’s three - plus season drought two race later , with a triumph in Germany . Meanwhile , teammate Jean Alesi was also rack up a number of podium finishes , and Ferrari place third overall in the constructors championship . The Scuderia bet to be regain its form .
In 1995 , a rules convert reduce maximal locomotive engine electrical capacity to 3.0 - liter . Ferrari respond with a newfangled , more - compact V-12 that produced over 600 HP at 17,000 rpm . It went into a new car called the Ferrari 412 T2 .
compare to the T1 , the Ferrari 412 T2 was slightly shorter in wheelbase and in overall length – enough to set aside the engine to be move about 3.5 inches ( 10 centimeter ) nearer to the political program ’s plaza . The 37 - gallon ( 140 - liter ) fuel tank was similarly relocated , and the Ferrari 412 T2 proved more balanced and easier to drive than its T - serial predecessor .
Against the dominate Renault - powered Benetton and Williams machine , however , it was competitive but not top - tier . The Ferrari team had a number of stump conclusion , the most memorable Jean Alesi ’s triumph at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal . Once the Frenchman take over the jumper lead , he was overcome with joy .
“ I started to cry in the railway car , ” he recalled inFerrari 1947 - 1997.“I could n’t see the road because when I brake the tears were getting in my visor . It was not the way I expected to respond . I enjoin myself to get back to driving and see what happened . ”
That worked up triumph would be the last for a Ferrari V-12 in Formula 1 . The following season a new engine and a Modern driver would come on the scene , laying the foundation garment for a geological period of mastery unlike any the sport had see .
Ferrari F310B
A revolution was ask shape at Ferrari in the second half of 1995 .
After study several engine types , admit V-8s and V-12s , Maranello announced it would utilise a V-10 in F1 for 1996 . It marked the first time the Scuderia had judge a 10 - cylinder shape .
And hearsay swirled that Ferrari was actively court two - time world champion Michael Schumacher , wide recognize as the fastest driver in F1 . Schumacher was at the sentence driving for Benetton - Renault , and two week after he won at the Hockenheimring in his German homeland , it was announced he would indeed be with Ferrari in ’ 96 . He was sign to a two - year contract worth $ 24 million .
Ferrari ’s unexampled F1 car for 1996 was the F310 . Among the benefit of its 10 - piston chamber engine was a compact size that allowed much - improve aerodynamics . The 2998cc unit ab initio produced 700 horsepower , a form bump to 725 afterward in the time of year .
As for Schumacher , his importance was obvious to longtime F1 reporter Andrew Frankl .
“ Five aspects seem to suffer out in an analysis of his endowment , ” Frankl reported in 1996 inFORZA , a magazine devote to Ferrari . “ They are : his never - stop consignment to the testing process ; his technical ability ; his self-assurance in his own drive power ; his incredible care to detail , which emanates from a pursuit for precision and perfection … And last – and not completely insignificant , his will to win . ”
Schumacher ’s mate was also newfangled to Ferrari . Irishman Eddie Irvine had make out over from the Jordan team , and he score the F310 ’s first points with a third - billet finish in the season ’s first race at Australia . Schumacher followed with a third in the next race , at Brazil . He retired in Argentina , then pop off on a bout .
In the time of year ’s final 13 contests , Schumacher scored three triumph , three seconds , and a third . He finish third in a machine driver ’s championship bring home the bacon by Williams - Renault ’s Damon Hill . Ferrari was a distant base runner - up to Williams - Renault in constructors spot .
Ferrari up the ante in 1997 with the Ferrari F310B. The aerodynamics were revised , the V-10 ’s output signal increased to 750 H.P. , the transmission was upgraded , and a new differential was used in an attempt to solve dependability offspring . Ferrari was again second to Williams - Renault in the builder backup , but the decimal point margin was slimmer than in ’ 96 . In the equipment driver ’s chase , Schumacher go into the season ’s final race , at Jerez in Spain , leading Williams - Renault ’s Jacques Villeneuve by one point , 78 - 77 .
The backwash was the setting for one of F1 ’s most controversial moment . On lick 48 , Villeneuve ’s puritanical - and - white Williams pulled alongside Schumacher ’s red Ferrari in a turning point , and appeared about to pass . dead , Schumacher trend , and his right front tire made contact with Villeneuve ’s sidepod . Schumacher ended up in a gravel trap , but his challenger was able to continue , and finished in third spot .
Villeneuve ended the season with 81 item . Schumacher accumulate 78 , but FIA officials estimate his Jerez move an designed bidding to take Villeneuve out , and disqualified the Ferrari driver in the backup standing .
Ferrari F2003-GA
By 1998 , Ferrari ’s destination was nothing less than F1 supremacy . It was expected by everyone at bottom and outside the organisation , and by fans around the world .
Michael Schumacher had also get the picture the magnitude of the situation , dig how his fresh “ house ” was indeed different from its competition . “ In a manner , ” he observe inFerrari 1947 - 1997,“I was n’t ready for the ‘ Ferrari legend . ’ I honor it from the outside , as a mere spectator , but I had no thought what it meant to be part of it … .
“ But on that first visit to Maranello [ in 1995 ] , I could n’t stop at simple analytic considerations . I began to smell out something , like goose zit . I felt I was in a new atmosphere , which is not promiscuous to specify . It was an important moment ; I translate that after two world title at Benetton , I was now embarking on a Modern stage of my career and even my life sentence . ”
The last piece of this new reality , one that would shamble in an earned run average unprecedented in the history of Formula 1 , fall into place in 1998 , when the influence of two talented men came to the fore . Rory Byrne was a South African designer who had been in Formula 1 for 15 days . He had masterminded Schumacher ’s two Benetton macrocosm patronage railcar . He joined Ferrari in recent 1996 , and his first car for the Scuderia was 1998 ’s F300 .
Ross Brawn was Ferrari ’s Technical Director , and he , like Byrne , had played an integral role in Schumacher ’s Benetton titles . Not only would Brawn manage the daytime - to - day exploitation of the F300 and its successors , he proved a sea captain racing strategist , capable to work off preset plans or create them in the hotness of struggle .
And 1998 was a time of year - recollective fight between Ferrari and McLaren - Mercedes . Of the time of year ’s first 12 races , McLaren - Mercedes ’ Mika Hakkinen deliver the goods six and Schumacher five . The Ferrari driver overstretch even in winnings with a triumph in Italy , the 13th race of the 16 - upshot schedule . But Hakkinen sealed the championship for himself and for McLaren - Mercedes with win in the final two races .
Ferrari ’s car for 1999 was the F399 . The V-10 was moved ahead in the physical body , and aeromechanics were enhanced with a unexampled front offstage , side pod , and melodic phrase intake . Ferrari claim more than 750 HP from 2997cc .
Once again Ferrari ’s nemesis was McLaren - Mercedes . Ferrari ’s Eddie Irvine won the first race , Hakkinen the 2nd , Schumacher the third and fourth . And so the fight lead until the Battle of Midway point , the British Grand Prix , when Schumacher had a tremendous crash that sidelined him for the next six race with a impoverished leg .
Schumacher returned for the first Malaysian Grand Prix , the season ’s next-to-last race , and was on his elbow room to the win , but let Irvine take the checkered sword lily . Irvine had up his game after Michael ’s smash , with winnings in Austria and Germany , and was in fact leading Hakkinen in the number one wood ’s championship at the last backwash in Japan . But the hard Finn won the encounter and took the driver ’s jacket crown , 76 points to Irvine ’s 74 .
All was not lost for Ferrari , however . Irvine and Schumacher had accounted for six wins overall , help Ferrari to its first F1 constructors championship since 1983 . That was n’t enough to fulfil Maranello , however .
“ We ’ve got a great team , both from a human and technical point of view , ” Brawn said as he introduced the logically named F1 - 2000 and the team ’s new No . 2 number one wood , Rubens Barrichello . “ We deserve nothing less than both world titles this year . ”
Though the F1 - 2000 looked alike to the F399 , it was in conception quite different . The first car develop in Ferrari ’s new wind burrow , its slender nose , reprofiled flanks , and superior undertray airflow improved aerodynamics by 10 per centum , a immense number . The V-10 was clear , produce around 800 horsepower , and its mounting location was adjustable . In all , the F1 - 2000 was so light that well-nigh 180 pound of ballast was needed to fetch it up to minimal free weight requirements .
Schumacher gain the first three race and appeared to be cruising to a championship . Then McLaren and Hakkinen returned to forge . With four races left , Hakkinen lead . But Schumacher closed the season with a string of triumph to become Ferrari ’s first F1 world champion since 1979 . Ferrari also acquire the constructors crown in an evenly severely - fought engagement with McLaren - Mercedes .
The wind tunnel again play a central role in designing the F2001 . formula change stipulated that the front annex be deposit two inches higher than the previous year ’s , so the F2001 ’s nose was lowly than the F1 - 2000 ’s , and the wings slue upward to meet the regulations .
“ test in the wind burrow prove that for this motorcar this conformation is best , ” Byrne said of the squad ’s unique approach . “ The first few races will show who was correct in their excogitation . ”
And that they did , as the F2001 dominated the time of year . Ferrari rack up a then - disk 179 compass point for the constructors crown , and Schumacher ’s 123 points on the way to his 2nd - serial world driving championship were almost double those of 2nd - place closer , McLaren - Mercedes ’ David Coulthard .
The F2002 cavort newfangled sidepods , revise rear abeyance , and a lighter , shorter gearbox that delivered even riotous shifts . Two - mode telematics were now legal , so information and background could trip between the railcar and pits .
All that spelled risky news show for the competition . The F2002 won 15 of 17 races , with Schumacher taking 11 and Barrichello four . Ferrari set another constructor ’s record with 221 detail ( runner - up Williams - BMW had 92 ) and Schumacher tied Juan Manuel Fangio ’s record of five number one wood ’s world championship .
Ferrari ’s string of four serial F1 constructor championships and Shumacher ’s outpouring of three straight world titles was in endangerment for much of 2003 .
The squad commence the time of year with the F2002 , and Schumacher did n’t set foot on the podium in the first three races . As the season neared the halfway point , leading in driver ’s point was McLaren - Mercedes ’ young hotshoe , Kimi Raikkonen , and his squad was atop the constructors standings .
Then , in the fourth race , at San Marino , Ferrari unleash its F2003 - GA . ( GA was a testimonial to Fiat ’s Gianni Agnelli , who died concisely before the car ’s launch . ) Versus the F2002 , the GA had better aerodynamics and chilling , a two - inch - shorter wheelbase , and a V-10 that revved to a shrieking 19,000 rpm .
Schumacher make headway the F2003 - GA ’s debut race in Spain , and the following slipstream in Austria . The time of year had morphed into an all - out brawl between Williams - BMW and Ferrari . A victory by Schumacher in Canada was sandwiched between Williams - BMW win by Juan Pablo Montoya at Monoco and by Schumacher ’s jr. brother , Ralf , at Nurburgring . The BMW - powered rivals won again in France and with three backwash go away , Williams - BMW was leading in constructors peak . The driver ’s backing , meanwhile , was a battle royale among Schumacher , Raikkonen , and Montoya .
In Italy , Schumacher fought off a pressuring Montoya for the profits , and when the German acquire the next race , a rainy U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis , he was assured of the driver ’s pate and a record 6th backup . Barrichello ’s victory at the season finale , in Japan , fix Ferrari ’s record 5th straightforward constructors title .
The F2004 may have looked like the F2003 - Georgia , but as Rory Byrne pointed out at its intromission , “ Every surface area of the automobile has been retool for make a further step forward in operation . So almost every component has been redesign . ” This include the railway locomotive , gear case , physique , and abeyance .
It all led to what may have been the most prevailing time of year ever in Formula 1 . Schumacher gain ground the first five races . An accident in the tunnel at Monaco halt the run . Then he reeled off another seven wins in a course . He finished the time of year with a criminal record 13 first - position finishes , bringing his phonograph record all - time victory total to 82 . With Barrichello ’s two triumph , Ferrari won 15 of the season ’s 17 contest .
Schumacher was World Champion for the seventh clip ( with a record 148 season points ) , and the Ferrari team set two more records – a sixth - straight constructor title and 262 season points .
Ferrari F2007
The demands ofLe Grande Epreuveleave lilliputian meter for savoring one ’s triumphs , and so it was for Michael Schumacher and Scuderia Ferrari after their historic achievements of 2004 . “ It was definitely a fabulous time of year , ” Schumacher severalize reporters in January 2005 . “ Not just because we were so successful , but also because of the air within our team , which is incredibly good … Formula One is a team sport .
It ’s about everyone exercise together , not a one - humans show . The mass at Maranello give us a self-coloured foundation to work with when we ’re at the race track … It ’s not a coincidence that we went for more than 50 races … without having to retire due to technical failure . It bear witness how much sweat is made and it demonstrate Ferrari ’s fondness . The victories and title belong to to every single one of them . ”
Schumacher paid that tribute soon after his 36thbirthday , which some felt made him a piece elderly for Formula One . ask if he was bulge to palpate his years , he admitted to the occasional small uncomfortableness , but declared “ All in all I feel very , very primed … much jr. than 36 . I act soccer with my colleagues quite often , with citizenry like [ Team Renault driver ] Fernando Alonso , who is 10 eld untested … and I do n’t see much of a difference . ” Unfortunately , Michael and the Ferrari team would see a deviation in the 2005 time of year , and a cast down one at that .
A record book 19 events were scheduled that year , including a second Grand Prix of China as the season finale . For the first two rounds , Ferrari ’s gondola was the F2004 M ( modificata ) , a meek update of the previous year ’s all - conqueringmonoposto .
Then , starting with the April Bahrain GP , the Scuderia vie with the further - develop F2005 . take account of all the latest rules , it incorporated a honorable many streamlined purification , such as a reshape fag end and a “ winglet ” added atop the roll hoop behind the gadget driver , plus structural strengthening to live up to stricter crash standards lay out by the FIA government activity physical structure . The gearbox was made more thick to suit , and there were legion small change to the rear suspension , brakes and electronics .
In gain , the 3.0 - liter “ 053 ” V-10 was beefed - up to become the “ 055 ” railway locomotive , the aim being to double Robert William Service life in line with a fresh mandate that the same engine be used for two consecutive backwash . Another new rule ask using the same type of tyre for an intact race – no more switching between “ juiceless ” and “ sozzled ” compounds – hence the rear - suspension changes .
The new regulation apparently direct at fostering near competition , a response to Schumacher ’s utter dominance of the previous four seasons . But though many expected 2005 to be another Maranello cakewalk , it was anything but . Indeed , Ferrari was vexed at most every locus .
tyre problems proved both dour and seemingly insoluable , and the contest had not been idle over the winter . implausibly , Schumacher ended the campaign with only one victory – at the June U.S. Grand Prix in Indianapolis – and finished third in points with just 62 , far behind the ace . Who was none other than young association football buddy , Fernando Alonso , who amassed 133 point in time to best McLaren - Mercedes ace Kimi Raikkonnen ( 112 ) . Schumacher ’s teammate , Rubens Barrichello , wind up eighth in the driver ’s standing with 38 .
regard its time of year - foresighted woes , Ferrari did well to exact third in the constructor ’s championship with 100 peak , trailing Renault ’s 191 and moon-curser - up McLaren - Mercedes ’ 182 . But that was light solace for team manager Jean Todt , who seemed ready to fall on a sword , judging by the apologies he made all time of year long .
The 2006 crusade provide promise for salvation , mainly because all teams essentially had to start afresh . To lower track stop number in the involvement of rubber , the FIA mandated a newfangled V-8 normal with engines of no more than 2.4 cubic decimeter . Teams still had to use the same powerplant for two successive events , but were again permitted to make tire alteration during a race .
Maranello respond with the competently named 248 F1 . Though it intimately resembled the F2005 in size , layout , construction , and even appearance , Ferrari ’s 52ndGrand Prixmonopostoevidenced many improvements asunder from its young “ 056 ” V-8 .
Because the new convention made lower - speed aerodynamics more critical to handling and thus lap covering time , decorator refine the shape and/or size of the air consumption , engine cover , side cod , rear bodywork , chassis floor , even the rearview mirrors . Other refinements involved the cooling system , electronics , the fuel cell , leap and shock - absorber calibrations and – again – rearward - respite geometry .
While everyone contended with new cars in 2006 , the Scuderia also had to deal with a pregnant personnel modification , as Rubens Barchiello belong off to join the Honda effort . But Schumacher ’s new mate would demonstrate a shrewd pick : another immature Brazilian hotshot , 24 - year - one-time - Felipe Massa , who ’d been waiting several year for just this chance and was eager to examine himself . That would be no gentle chore , as the redoubtable Fernando Alonso was again lead pilot light for Renault and Kimi Raikkonnen was back for McLaren - Mercedes .
There were 18 events on the 2006 calendar . Alonso wasted no metre nibble up where he ’d leave off , get ahead six of the first nine contests and come second in the remaining three . Schumacher do but a trio of runner - ups in the time of year ’s first half , but then return to form with another victory in the U.S. Grand Prix , followed by wins in France , Germany , Italy and China .
But something had changed since Schumacher order the press , back in early ’ 05 , “ I ’m someone who generally always tends to look ahead . ” Perhaps it was the many frustration of the 2005 serial publication . Or maybe he was feeling more the little ache and bother he had acknowledge . Or perhaps , in looking ahead now , he did n’t wish what he saw .
For whatever reason , hearsay circulated all season that Michael would soon retire , and in early October , at Monza , he made it official even while keep a 90thFormula 1 victory . An epoch had end .
But Schumacher would have one last glorious moment . Fittingly , it came at the time of year - end Brazilian GP in former October . Alonso was only one point from a second unbent driver ’s championship , and a tyre puncture end Michael ’s chances for a podium finish . Nevertheless , he drove like a human being possessed .
AsAutoWeek ’s Nigel Roebuck related : “ Rejoining [ the field ] gem last , almost a lap down on Massa , Schumacher wield a searing rate to the end , with nothing at interest save his own pride , his own pleasance … Most of those he buy the farm en route to fourth place put up little competitiveness [ except for Kimi Raikkonnen ] , a fellow remarkably devoid of persuasion … How many , with the good life beckoning , would have tried a hazardous move against one as tough – if fair – as Raikkonnen ?
As it was , Schumacher was not to be deny , and thus his final act in an F1 car was to fall the man who will interchange him at Ferrari , the Isle of Man whose signing , many trust , drive him out of F1 before he was quick to go . ”
Massa won easy at Interlagos , to the delight of the hometown crew , not to cite Jean Todt . Alonso do secondly , followed by teammate Giancarlo Fisichella , then Schmacher and Raikkonnen . For the time of year , Michael finished second in the number one wood ’s standings with 121 point to Alonso ’s 134 . Massa was third with 80 , besting Fisichella ( 72 ) and Raikkonnen ( 65 ) . In the constructor ’s bowler hat , the Scuderia was doubtless palliate to shut the gap with Renault , finishing just five point behind ( 201 to 206 ) .
Schumacher did not disappear , lief lending his considerable expertise to help the Scuderia prepare for 2007 . Raikkonen ’s comer in Maranello was just one of many number one wood changes among the major teams that season , but Ferrari was also now without the services of technological music director Ross Brawn , who was now off “ sportfishing , ” explained team manager Todt . That raised as many eyebrow as Michael ’s absence seizure from the cockpit .
As Nigel Roebuck noted , Brawn ’s “ near - telepathic human relationship with Schumacher was responsible for for so many strategic victories . ” But his substitution was Mario Almondo , a man with “ ample experience at Ferrari , ” Todt said , “ [ though ] he has unlike responsibility and a different role than Ross . The Scuderia was regroup for a new era . Other key changes included naming Aldo Costa to lead chassis evolution and Gilles Simon to oversee locomotive work .
There was another new gondola , logically delegate F2007 , and it , too , raised a few brow . As Roebuck observed : “ Against the flow of thought elsewhere , [ it ’s ] a handsome , longer - wheebase railcar … and other designer question why [ Costa ] has taken this itinerary . Given Ferrari ’s retentive association with Bridgestone ( on whose tires all must run this year ) , is there something he do it that they do n’t ? "
Perhaps , but a difference between the FIA and Michelin had end the French tiremaker ’s part as sanctioned Formula One supplier , which might have given Ferrari a leg - up on rivals novel to the mandated Bridgestones .
Costa did n’t explain the 3.4 - in tenacious wheelbase , but did admit that aerodynamics for the Ferrari F2007 were “ completely remodeled , above all the front pause ; the line inlets on the main consistence and the rear axle are tighter and more tapering , to benefit also from [ a new gear box ] computer architecture .
We worked a mickle on the chassis consider the new crash tests , which are much more serious … The abatement has been revised [ to accommodate the ] young tire , while the gear case has a unexampled quick shift system … We have also modified the [ positioning and angle ] of the radiator . As far as the rearward suspension is concerned , it is continuing to develop , ” he aver mysteriously .
As for the engine , Simon it was essentially the same 056 V-8 , as the rules specified , but grow more torsion near the 19,000 - rpm redline thanks to revised valves , pistons , combustion chambers , and crankshaft .
The F2007 had the making of a victor , but what about the drivers ? Raikkonnen had been dissatisfied with recent Mercedes - McLarens , and had signed with Ferrari in hopes of getting a ride equal to his talents .
If the F2007 proved honest , then he was , as Roebuck reported , “ most witness ’ favorite to bring home the bacon the championship . ” On the other hand , “ Some doubt [ he ] is the man to motivate Ferrari as Schumacher did , and [ some ] also doubt that he will reign Felipe Massa , who knows Ferrari inside and out and won twice last year . It help that Massa is managed by the son of team boss Jean Todt . In the new epoch , go the word , there will be no ‘ squad orders , ’ no ‘ No . 1 driver . ’ Massa , sprightly , and sure-footed , has his own hopes for 2007 . ”
Though the season is just afoot as we write , it seems Ferrari might benefit from a petty “ sibling competition . ” Raikkonnen promply deliver the goods the time of year undoer at Albert Park in Australia . Massa came back to take round three at Bahrain .
But in between , at Malaysia , both were humbled by Alfonso , who wields a McLaren - Mercedes this year . Of course , three races do not make an F1 backing , and there are 14 exit on the 2007 carte du jour , so it stay on to be seen whether the Scuderia can be as dominant as it was in the Schumacher years . One matter we do cognize : Ferrari will never block up striving to be the best in the most demanding of motorsports .
