• Ferrari - The History

    Ferrari F1 The History
    On February the 18th 1898 Enzo Ferrari was born in Modena. After being forced to leave school after the death of his father, he went on to work in the Modeno Fire Brigades workshop as a turning instructor. After serving his country in World War I, in 1918 he started to work as a test driver in Turin. He soon moved to Milan to work for CMN (Costruzioni Meccaniche Nazionali) as a racing driver and a test driver. In 1919 he made his racing debut in the Parma - Berceto race, later that year he also entered the Taraga Florio race. 1920 saw Enzo move to the racing team Alfa Romeo, at this team he formed a strong relationship which lasted over 20 years, his career progressed from a test driver to a race driver to a sales assistant and he eventually he was to be the Director of the Alfa Racing Division until 1939.

    Scuderia Ferrari were founded in Modeno in 1929, the main purpose this company was to organize racing for its members. This was the beginning of a strong involvement in motor racing, this led to the creation of the official racing team and the Scuderia was to become a division of Alfa Romeo, Scuderia Ferrari took overall control of the racing team in 1933. 1940 saw the end of the Scuderia's connection with Alfa Romeo, the company then went on to establish itself as an independent organization to be called "Auto Avio Costruzioni Ferrari" the company worked for the national Aviation Company in Rome.

    During World War II in 1943 the Ferrari workshop moved base from Modeno to Maranello and began to produce grinding machines for ball bearings. The workshop had to be rebuilt in 1946 after being bombed during the war, this was also the year that the company started to design and build the first Ferrari. In 1960 the business was turned into a joint stock company in which Fiat became a 50-50 partner in 1969.

    1963 saw Enzo build his his Istituto Professionale per l'Industria e l'Artigianato, this was a training school based in Maranello. The Fiorano test track was to follow in 1972. During 1947-1988 Enzo went on to lead Ferrari to win over 5,000 races all over the world, this also brought the Scuderia 25 world titles. Ferrari's first world championship grand prix win came in the 1950 British Grand Prix with Argentine Froilan Gonzalez at the wheel. Ferrari took its first world championship victory with Alberto Ascari in 1952.

    Enzo Ferrari died in Modena on August 14 1988. After the death of Enzo Ferrari, Scuderia Ferrari struggled to come to terms with the loss of its founder. The team was dragged down with internal politics marring the performances on the track. Despite a good run with Mansell and Prost the team soon became un-competitive. The turning point for Ferrari was the signing of the current world champion Michael Schumacher and Ross Brawn in 1996, since then the team has re-found it's racing history and are now back at the front of the grid.

    1996 was a year for building for the future and in 1997 and 1998 Ferrari lost out on the title's only in the final race of the season. 97 will be remembered from the Jerez incident in which Michael Schumacher tangled with title rival Jacques Villeneuve handing the Williams driver the title. In 1998 it was Mika Hakkinen in the McLaren who took the title on the final day of the season after Schumacher's Ferrari stalled on the grid at Suzuka.

    In 1999 a Schumacher driver's title looked on the cards until a leg breaking accident at Silverstone ruled him out of the title battle, it was left to Eddie Irvine to take the fight to Hakkinen and fight he did, the title again went to the final race of the season but not even the return of Michael Schumacher could prevent Hakkinen taking the crown once again, Ferrari however took victory in the constructor's championship.

    2000 was a turning point for Ferrari's fortunes, another tough battle with McLaren was won in style with a fine end of season comeback which saw Michael Schumacher win the final four races of the season to secure both titles for Ferrari. And in 2001 the success would be repeated, this time Ferrari had less of a challenge and Schumacher had wrapped up another title long before the season was over.

    In 2002 Ferrari launch the F2002 and it will be a car that is long remembered in the history of the Scuderia. The F2002 simply dominated the season after making a delayed debut in Brazil. Schumacher won the driver's title quicker than any other driver before and Ferrari won by a record margin of points. However this success caused the FIA to worry about the sport becoming boring and in 2003 they were to introduce a raft of changes to try and slow down Ferrari and keep the title's competitive.

    The changes to F1 in 2003 did at least stop Ferrari running away with the title's once again, but they did not stop the winning streak from continuing. Schumacher once again took the driver's title this time fighting off a double challenge from Montoya and Raikkonen. Ferrari took their 5th straight victory in the constructor's title and put another notch on their domination of the sport in this period of time.

    2004 would see Ferrari continue to dominate F1, after the tough battle in 2003 many expected Ferrari's winning run to come to an end at the hands of their Michelin shod rivals, but the F2004 was simply the class of the field as Ferrari went on the rampage once again similar to 2002 where nobody had an answer to their pace. Ferrari were so far ahead of the rest they stopped developing the chassis in the summer to work on the 2005 car, thus allowing their rivals some hope as they caught up with the champions towards the end of the season, but by then it was all done and dusted and the team sealed yet another double championship win, with 15 wins from 18 races.

    2005 would see the FIA once again react to Ferrari domination and decided that one tyre would be used for the whole race. This played directly into the hands of Ferrari's rivals on Michelin tyre's who reaped the benefits of the French companies endurance experience. It was a dismal year for Ferrari with only 1 race win coming in the USA when the Michelin teams pulled out due to safety issues. The shining light was however Michael Schumacher who showed he had lost none of his skills when dealing with a lesser package and he drove the wheels of the car all season long.

    In 2006 things somewhat returned to normal, tyre changes were once again allowed and Ferrari were back to fighting for the titles. It was Schumacher v Alonso in the Renault who battled to the last race for the title before Alonso eventually won out. In a season with constant twists and turns it was also sadly the final season in F1 for Michael Schumacher who announced he would be retiring from the sport. Schumacher took the title battle to the final race in Brazil but a problem in qualifying left him with little chance of securing the title, but he left Ferrari and his fans with a drive to remember and also left many wondering just why he was retiring.

    2007 was all change for Ferrari, with the dream team heading on to pastures new it was up to the new guard to show they had the talents to take Ferrari onwards. And it was another close fought battle this time with old time rivals McLaren stepping up to the plate. Ferrari endured a difficult season at times with reliability issues but new driver Kimi Raikkonen kept himself in the title hunt (only just at times). And in a stunning and dramatic final race of the season in Brazil the Finish driver took the title by 1 point from Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

    Ferrari would shuffle their management once again for 2008, with Stefano Domenicali leading the team on yet another title hunt. Ultimately the job was done as Ferrari secured their 16th Constructor's title with relative ease ahead of bitter rivals McLaren. However the season was not filled with perfection, with many mistakes littering the season, the pitstop traffic light system was ditched after it cost Felipe Massa a win in Singapore, split second decisions on the pit wall that always seemed to go right for Ferrari this year turned out to go wrong. However the title for the team was secured but with Felipe Massa missing out on the driver's title by 1 point it is surely with some regret that Ferrari look back on 2008. But the team will be ready to tackle the challenges of 2009.

    2009 was not to be the best of years for Ferrari, only 1 win in a season that saw the F1 grid order mixed up. Ferrari were to be beaten by a one time legend as Ross Brawn took over the Honda team and won both titles. The season was dominated by political fighting with firstly the rule book being challenged (double diffusers) and then FOTA teams threatening pull outs and race boycotts, meanwhile on the track the Ferrari F60 was clearly not good enough to compete for race wins. Ferrari introduced a new B spec chassis which did improve things and they ended the season much stronger than they began it. The only win came from Kimi Raikkonen at Spa, the Finnish driver however was to leave the team to make way for Fernando Alonso for 2010. The 2009 season also seen Ferrari rally around Felipe Massa who suffered a massive accident at Hungary forcing him to sit out the remainder of the season, Luca Badoer initially stood in for Massa but he was replaced after 2 races by Giancarlo Fisichella who remains the teams 3rd driver for 2010.

    Team Statistics (end of 2009)
    Debut: Monaco 1950
    Drivers' titles: 15
    Constructors' titles: 16
    Races Competed: 793
    Wins: 210
    Pole positions: 203

    The Emblem
    "The story of the prancing horse is simple and fascinating. The horse was painted on the fuselage of the fighter plane flown by Francesco Baracca, a heroic Italian pilot who died on Mount Montello: the Italian ace of aces of the First World War. In 1923, when I won the first Savio circuit, which was run in Ravenna, I met Count Enrico Baracca, the pilot's father, and subsequently his mother, Countess Paolina. One day she said to me, "Ferrari, why don't you put my son's prancing horse on your cars; it would bring you luck." I still have Baracca's photograph with the dedication by his parents, in which they entrusted the emblem to me. The horse was black and has remained so; I added the canary yellow background because it is the colour of Modena." - Enzo Ferrari

    Year By Year
    1951: First Grand Prix win in Britain.
    1952: Alberto Ascari World Champion with six wins
    1953: Alberto Ascari World Champion with five wins
    1956: Juan Manuel Fangio World Champion with three wins
    1958: 2nd in Constructor's Championship with 40 points
    1959: 2nd in Constructor's Championship with 32 points
    1960: 3rd in Constructor's Championship with 22 points
    1961: 1st in Constructor's Championship with 40 points
    1962: 5th in Constructor's Championship with 18 points
    1963: 4th in Constructor's Championship with 26 points
    1964: 1st in Constructor's Championship with 45 points
    1965: 4th in Constructor's Championship with 26 points
    1966: 2nd in Constructor's Championship with 31 points
    1967: 4th in Constructor's Championship with 20 points
    1968: 4th in Constructor's Championship with 32 points
    1969: 5th in Constructor's Championship with 7 points
    1970: 2nd in Constructor's Championship with 55 points
    1971: 4th in Constructor's Championship with 33 points
    1972: 4th in Constructor's Championship with 33 points
    1973: 6th in Constructor's Championship with 12 points
    1974: 2nd in Constructor's Championship with 65 points
    1975: 1st in Constructor's Championship with 72.5 points
    1976: 1st in Constructor's Championship with 83 points
    1977: 1st in Constructor's Championship with 95 points
    1978: 2nd in Constructor's Championship with 58 points
    1979: 1st in Constructor's Championship with 113 points
    1980: 10th in Constructor's Championship with 8 points
    1981: 5th in Constructor's Championship with 34 points
    1982: 1st in Constructor's Championship with 74 points
    1983: 1st in Constructor's Championship with 89 points
    1984: 2nd in Constructor's Championship with 57.5 points
    1985: 2nd in Constructor's Championship with 82 points
    1986: 4th in Constructor's Championship with 37 points
    1987: 4th in Constructor's Championship with 53 points
    1988: 2nd in Constructor's Championship with 65 points
    1989: 3rd in Constructor's Championship with 59 points
    1990: 2nd in Constructor's Championship with 110 points
    1991: 3rd in Constructor's Championship with 55.5 points
    1992: 4th in Constructor's Championship with 21 points
    1993: 4th in Constructor's Championship with 28 points
    1994: 3rd in Constructor's Championship with 71 points
    1995: 3rd in Constructor's Championship with 73 points
    1996: 2nd in Constructor's Championship with 70 points
    1997: 2nd in Constructor's Championship with 102 points
    1998: 2nd in Constructor's Championship with 133 points
    1999: 1st in Constructor's Championship with 124 points
    2000: 1st in Constructor's Championship with 170 points
    2001: 1st in Constructor's Championship with 179 points
    2002: 1st in Constructor's Championship with 221 points
    2003: 1st in Constructor's Championship with 158 points
    2004: 1st in Constructor's Championship with 262 points
    2005: 3rd in Constructor's Championship with 100 points
    2006: 2nd in Constructor's Championship with 201 points
    2007: 1st in Constructor's Championship with 204 points
    2008: 1st in Constructor's Championship with 172 points
    2009: 4th in Constructor's Championship with 70 points