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Ferrari is the one constant thread in the story of Formula One.
Enzo Ferrari ended the Second World War with a substantial factory since, during hostilities, he had made ball bearings for the military using machinery pirated from German designs. The first Ferrari cars appeared in 1947 and there was little difference at first between formula and sports models.
Alfa Romeo withdrew from Formula One during 1949 and Ferrari expected to clean up but was twice defeated by ageing, normally aspirated, Talbot-Lagos which used less fuel. This prompted Ferrari to abandon supercharging, a significant move since supercharging had been a feature of Grand Prix racing for more than 20 years.
The return of Mercedes-Benz in 1954 saw Ferrari wrong-footed, its designs were simply not up to the competition and when Lancia hit financial trouble in early 1955, Fiat brokered a deal whereby Ferrari took over the Lancia team cars and also received a subsidy from Fiat because Ferrari success was good for all Italian industry.
The successes that Scuderia Ferrari gained with its Lancias, should be credited to Lancia, in the same way that Tyrrell's wins with Matra and March chassis are credited to Matra and March.
Ferrari was late to latch on to new developments such as disc brakes and mid-engined designs, and after brief success in 1956, running Lancias, Ferrari would not know dominance again until 1961. Its reputation was secured by its sports racing and GT cars and, from the late 1950s Ferrari also took the manufacture of road cars seriously.
Italian coachbuilding was in a Golden Age and every stylist wanted to clothe a Ferrari - there have never been so many stunning styles.
Ferrari's success in Formula One in 1961 was partly due to the fact that British constructors were against the new 1.5-litre formula and lobbied for it to be changed. So confident were they that they would succeed that they were late with new designs. After a dominant season, interrupted only by the genius of Stirling Moss, Ferrari again slumped when many of his most senior lieutenants left to start the ATS project.
After a thin season in 1962, Ferrari recruited John Surtees and Mike Parkes, both brilliant driver/engineers and they turned Ferrari around with Surtees taking the 1964 World Championship.
Surtees might have taken the title again in 1966, but he was dismissed after a row with Ferrari's team manager. This stupid act of self-destruction by Ferrari saw it slump for several years. It was a self-inflicted wound, but one which is typical of Ferrari's history.
In 1968 Enzo Ferrari sold 90% of his road car business to Fiat, and 50% of Scuderia Ferrari, retaining control of the racing side for the rest of his life.
For the next few years, Ferrari's fortunes fluctuated largely because of inherent conservatism. One thing which did affect results was aerodynamic, specifically the height of the rear wing as it was regulated in any one year. When rear wings were lowered, Ferrari improved because it ran flat-12 engines and could therefore get more air under the wing than teams using the relatively high DFV engine.
This advantage coincided with the arrival of Niki Lauda who, like Surtees before him, drove the team to new excellence. Ferrari was caught out by the arrival of ground effect, which was difficult to exploit with a flat-12 engine, and by the introduction of carbonfibre chassis. The Scuderia responded by employing Dr. Harvey Postlethwaite as chief designer for 1982 and has ever since employed Anglo-Saxon designers (Steve Nichols, 1991-2, is actually American, but there is no vowel at the end of his surname).
Postlethwaite brought British chassis expertise to a firm famous for its engines. Ferrari made superb turbocharged units, but its chassis in 1981 was terrible.
Enzo Ferrari himself died in 1988 having created an automotive legend. Many may take comfort from the fact that he was 49-years-old when the first Ferrari was built.
Ferrari starts the 2003 title race as favourite. Ferrari has won the Constructors' Championship for the past four years and shows no sign of losing its impetus. Until the current team of engineers and administrators were recruited, a winning streak usually meant that Ferrari fell apart and became a back marker for several seasons, but times have changed.
The transformation occurred in 1996 when Michael Schumacher was recruited with an unprecedented pay cheque. Schumacher had the clout, the talent and the intelligence, to assemble the people he wanted to transform Ferrari into Scuderia Schumacher. Rory Byrne, the Chief Designer, had plans to bum around the world in a sailing boat, but Ferrari made him an offer he could not refuse.
Michael had worked with Rory and also the current Ferrari Technical Director, Ross Brawn, at Benetton. Brawn came on board and his design ability and racing strategies have been crucial to the team's renaissance.
Jean Todt was recruited from Peugeot and he brought organisation to what had often been a team in name only. Michael Schumacher named the people he wanted, he got them, and the team goes into 2002 looking bullet-proof.
Schumacher has stood head and shoulders above all other drivers since the mid-1990s. Allied to an astonishing talent as a driver is a cool brain and a rational evaluation of his own worth. Ferrari is Michael's team, he created it, and any driver in the second car has to accept that.
Eddie Irvine made hay while Michael was side-lined by injury for a while in 1999. Rubens Barrichello has shown that he can win, but seems to be under the illusion that what it says in his contract, that he has the same status as Schumacher, translates into the real world. Where was Barrichello when Schumacher was assembling his team? As long as Schumacher remains at Ferrari, the same question can be asked of any driver in the other seat.
Michael has now won more World Championship races than any driver in history and, with five World titles under his belt, he is looking to secure a record sixth. It would be a brave man who would bet serious money against this happening in 2003.
Unlike most of its rivals since the late 1950s, Ferrari makes its own engines and transmissions. On the other hand, for more than a quarter of a century rival engineers have been of the opinion that, with Ferrari's budget and resources, it should have won every single race.
In 2002 Ferrari produced what must surely be one of the finest Formula One cars ever, the F2002. The Scuderia already had Michael Schumacher, arguably the finest ever F1 driver on board, therefore the result was a forgone conclusion.
The Italian team won 15 races and finished the season with exactly the same amount of points as all its rivals put together. Yet rather than covering itself in glory, Ferrari managed to upset almost everyone with its team orders, staged finishes and general attitude towards sportsmanship.
The 2002 World Championship was a stunning success for Ferrari, yet many now accused the Italian team of damaging the sport, possibly irreparably. The fact that Schumacher had wrapped up the title by mid-season is testament to the team's superiority and its opponents' weakness.
Post-2002, widespread criticism of the sport followed by the loss of TV viewers and indeed sponsors was largely put down to the Italian team's outrageous cynicism. For 2003, in an effort to revive public interest, and to prevent another Schumacher/Ferrari steamroller, all number of rules were changed. If McLaren, WilliamsF1, Renault and friends couldn't beat them on-track, perhaps it was time for the FIA to throw a spanner in Ferrari's works by making things a little bit harder for them courtesy of some new regulations.
Despite claims at the launch of the F2003-GA, named in honour of FIAT boss, the late Gianni Agnelli, that this was Maranello's best F1 car ever, the Scuderia made hard work of winning its thirteenth Constructors' Championship.
After a couple of races the mass media was claiming that both Ferrari and Schumacher had had their day. The German finished fourth in Australia then two weeks later finished sixth, a lap down on winner Kimi Raikkonen, in Malaysia. In Brazil the German slid off in the wet into the same barrier that had previously accounted for a number of other drivers. Barrichello wasn't faring any better, with two DNFs and one second.
At Imola however it all came good. Schumacher, despite mourning the death of his mother, gave a bravura performance that began a string of three wins that put him, and Ferrari, back in contention.
As the season developed, the Italian team was under increasing pressure from both WilliamsF1 and McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen. Although Schumacher and Barrichello did all they could to resist the challenge they were hindered by their Bridgestones, which were largely out-classed by their French rivals.
Some strong performances, divine intervention - by way of the weather - suspect stewarding and dogged determination saw Schumacher and Ferrari add another couple of titles to the trophy cabinet. Sadly the season was somewhat marred by the silly squabble over the legality of the Michelins, with Ross Brawn lucky not to be sued for some of his comments.
Despite making such hard work of the 2003 championship, Ferrari opted to remain faithful to the team that secured nine titles in the past five years - with good reason.
At the launch of the team's 2004 contender, the F2004, Ferrari's fiftieth single-seater, Jean Todt and Ross Brawn were at pains to point out that the team was not resting on its laurels and was "looking ahead".
Pre-season testing indicated that the opposition was catching up, and that, at long last, Ferrari's reign was over... then came Melbourne.
Nothing could have prepared Formula One for the tour de force that was Ferrari in 2004. From the first practice session in Melbourne it was clear that the Italian team, and Schumacher, was in a league of its own.
Everything was perfect, the car, the driver(s), the tyres, the strategy, the team, even the weather worked in favour of the Maranello outfit. If anyone ever needed convincing that God is a fully paid up member of the tifosi, just look at how the weather conditions favoured Ferrari, and Bridgestone, during those first races of the season.
However, that's not taking anything away from the Italian team. They won because they deserved too, because they were the best. Schumacher took five straight wins - with Barrichello finishing second on the three occasions. Then came the blip at Monaco, when the German collided with nemesis Juan Pablo Montoya in the tunnel.
Would Michael have won, could he have gone on to win every single race of the 2004 season? There are some that think so, and cite the German's uncharacteristic outburst in the back of the Ferrari garage as clear proof. Then again, Jarno Trulli was on magnificent form in the Principality, and fully deserved his win.
In spite of Monaco, Schumacher went on to take another seven consecutive wins, with Rubens finishing runner-up on four more occasions.
The opposition could only watch and weep, happy to except any small crumb that fell from the table. BAR had shown a considerable improvement in form, but it was no match for Ferrari. Despite finishing runner-up in the Constructors' Championship, the British team had less than half of the Italian outfit's total points.
Once Schumacher had wrapped up the title - in Hungary - he clearly eased off, which allowed teammate Barrichello to take a brace of wins.
Ferrari had destroyed the opposition, and added another two trophies to its already bulging cabinet.
Sadly, despite the success of 2004, the Italian team's season was once again marred, with continued claims that Rubens was not allowed to race Michael
For what it's worth, who is to say that Rubens wasn't racing Michael? The truth is that the German is simply a much better driver.
Ferrari began the 2005 season pretty much cast as the villain, having done a 180-degree about-turn and abandoned the group threatening a breakaway series (GPWC), and signing up to Bernie Ecclestone's new Concorde Agreement.
To make matters worse, and further isolate the Italian team, Ferrari refused to sign up to an agreement - signed by the other nine teams - to a 30-day limit on testing during the season.
Consequently, even before the first practice session of 2005, Ferrari was already regarded as the 'bad guy'.
At the launch of the F2005, Ross Brawn described the car as the best the team had ever created. Based on the evidence of the preceding season, who were we to doubt him?
With the benefit of hindsight it would be easy to suggest that in future Ross avoids superlatives, however, perhaps the Englishman wasn't so wrong. The F2005 car was a fantastic car, trouble is, the McLaren, Renault, and to a lesser extent Toyota, were better.
The new regulations, with regards tyres and the 25 percent reduction in downforce, hit Ferrari particularly hard, a situation not helped by the fact that Michelin had finally got it right.
The Italian outfit retained a brave face for much of the season, and drivers and management refused to lay the blame at Bridgestone's door. However, the truth is that Bridgestone wasn't entirely to blame, Ferrari too had got it wrong. As Bridgestone and Ferrari worked to find a solution, the situation was massively hindered by the fact that no other serious team was running on Japanese rubber, therefore there was no useful data available that might have helped solve the problem.
Towards the end of the season - after a mammoth test programme - the Bridgestones were clearly improving, yet the F2005, particularly with regards aerodynamics, was unable to make good use of them.
There were good days of course - and we do not refer to the debacle that was the United States Grand Prix. At Bahrain, the F2005's first race, having been introduced two races earlier than originally planned, the car was (pace-wise) a match for the Renault, whilst at Imola, Schumacher was clearly quicker than Alonso, especially in the closing stages. Monaco was another good track for the car.
Yet overall, the Ferrari was never really a match for the two cars that fought it out for the Constructors' Championship, and for much of the year it was about damage limitation.
As ever, Michael Schumacher gave it his best shot, and some would say that the German gave some of his best performances during the season. Then again, there were days (Shanghai), when even the seven-time champion must have wondered why he'd bothered getting out of bed. Then again, at Imola, and again at Suzuka, he was awesome.
In his sixth season with Ferrari, Rubens Barrichello clearly felt it was time to make a change, a situation exacerbated by the performance of the car. Then again, the Brazilian, having played second-fiddle to Schumacher for so long, will not have been happy with the incidents at Monaco or Indianapolis, when his teammate made it quite clear - yet again - that he doesn't take prisoners, not even within his own team.
After the disappointment of 2005, much was expected of the 2006 car, designated the 248 F1.
With Barrichello off to Honda, Schumacher was joined by Felipe Massa, who - surprise, surprise - is managed by Jean Todt's son, Nicholas.
In the early races the team struggled, the Bridgestones looking to be no match for the Michelins. Furthermore, there was controversy regarding the Ferrari's rear wing, which was said to be flexing. Following a protest, the Italian team carried out the necessary modifications between the San Marino and European Grands Prix, with (ironically), Schumacher winning both events.
Although Alonso strung together four successive wins beginning in Spain, Schumacher hit back with victories in the United States, France and Germany.
At Monaco, Schumacher had been relegated to the back of the grid when stewards claimed he had deliberately tried to halt the qualifying session. As the season progressed, and with some sections of the media still murmuring about flexing wings, the FIA banned Renault's controversial mass damper system, even though it had been in use, and therefore deemed legal, since late 2005.
There was also growing speculation at to Ferrari's plans for 2007, namely, would Michael Schumacher continue racing, and if not who would replace him. With question marks over the future of Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, and Rory Byrne also, the team revealed that an announcement would be made at Monza, and not before.
Despite the slow start to the season, by late summer Schumacher and Ferrari were back in the hunt for both titles, with victory at Monza bringing the gap in the Drivers' Championship down to two points.
While the tifosi cheered a famous victory at the Autodromo Nazionale, Ferrari was already issuing the press release that announced Schumacher's retirement, and the recruitment of Kimi Raikkonen, who had signed a three-year deal with the Scuderia.
Victory in China suggested that Schumacher was going to 'sign off' in style, retiring from the sport with eight World Championship titles. However, an engine failure in Japan - Ferrari's first since Indianapolis 2001 - appeared to put an end to the dream.
In Brazil, Schumacher gave one of the finest performances of his 250 race career, but it was not enough, the titles remained with Fernando Alonso and Renault, However, Ferrari could at least take consolation from the fact that Interlagos saw Felipe Massa take his second win of the season, the Brazilian giving a master-class performance.
Ferrari had won seven of the eighteen races in 2006, but it was not enough, the Italian team losing out to Renault by five points. Whether both titles were lost during qualifying at Monaco or at the Japanese GP is a matter to be discussed on long winter nights over a glass of wine. Others have already made their minds up.
At season end Ferrari gave further details of its plans for the future, with Rory Byrne heading off into the sunset, Ross Brawn going fishing and Paolo Martinelli taking up a new role at FIAT. This, coupled with Schumacher's retirement left many wondering whether Ferrari would recover, far less rediscover its (championship) winning ways.
For his part, Schumacher was given the role of 'special assistant', though it was a year later (January 2008) before Todt admitted that the German had actually been offered the position of Team Principal but turned it down. That said, it was noticeable that whenever the seven-time champion did make an appearance over the course of a race weekend in 2007, Raikkonen's performance took an obvious dip.
With so many changes, not least the departure of the 'dream team', many were convinced that the Maranello outfit's reign had come to an end, with some predicting that the decision to concentrate on 'home grown' talent could see the team revert to the dark, non-winning, ways of the late seventies and eighties.
Though many thought the Italian team would face an uphill battle on-track in 2007, it was events off-track that dominated.
Though Kimi Raikkonen took a strong, convincing win in Melbourne, getting his Ferrari career off to the best possible start, the victory was subsequently clouded in controversy when it was claimed that the team used a 'moving floor'. However, much worse was to follow, when the team fired Race Technical Manager, Nigel Stepney, accusing him of sabotage. Shortly afterwards, the charge became espionage, and so began the spy saga that was to dominate the sport for much of the year.
Back on track, Todt cited reliability problems as the reason Ferrari appeared to be losing out to McLaren, though to be fair in a season in which overall reliability of all the teams was excellent - save the Red Bull teams - the Italian outfit only suffered three race failures. That said, the loss of the team's windtunnel for two weeks early in the season was another bitter blow.
For whatever reason, McLaren, back on Bridgestones for the first time since 2001, seemed to adapt to the Japanese rubber - particularly the super-softs - better than Ferrari, however, for much of the year the two teams were pretty evenly matched. That said, Ferrari appeared to have the sheer speed, and, certainly in the final phase of the season, was pushing harder in terms of development.
Whatever one's view of the spy saga, which eventually saw McLaren excluded from the Constructors' Championship, the fact is that Ferrari, despite the loss of its 'dream team' won both titles. And though Bernie Ecclestone claims that the titles were lost by McLaren, there is no denying that the Italian team fought until the bitter end.
Despite his apprenticeship under Schumacher, Felipe Massa never seriously appeared to be a genuine contender for the title. On the other hand, Raikkonen, despite a few blips, kept his head down and eventually turned the championship on its head.
It's sad that, according to the British media, Lewis Hamilton lost the 2007 title, for Raikkonen was a worthy winner. Despite all the bullshit floating about last summer, the Finn got on with the job - as did his team - and even though the cause appeared lost, they never gave up.
Both drivers are retained for 2008, and while we expect to see an improvement from Massa, Raikkonen has to be hot favourite for another title, having finally got the monkey off his back, so to speak.
Meanwhile, having finally laid the ghost of the 'dream team' to rest, Stefano Domenicali, promoted to the role of Director of the Gestione Sportiva on 1st January 2008, will be keen to oversee the beginning of a new - home grown led - golden era at Maranello.
Statistics - Prior to 2008 Season
Drivers' Titles: 15
Constructors' Titles: 15
Seasons in F1: 58
Grand Prix: 758
Wins: 201
Points: 3849.5
Poles: 195
Fastest Laps: 205
Best result in 2007: 1st (9 Times)
Best qualifying 2007: Pole - (9 Times)
Worst qualifying 2007: 16th - Massa (Australia) Raikkonen (Monaco)
Average grid position 2007: Raikkonen (3.53) Massa (3.88)
2007: Raikkonen out-qualified Massa 8 times
2007: Massa out-qualified Raikkonen 9 times
2007: Completed 1984 out of 2130 laps (93.1%)
2007: Finished 30 times from 34 starts (88.24%)
Team Structure
Management
Chairman & CEO: Luca di Montezemolo
Racing Management
General Director: Stefano Domenicali
Technical Director: Aldo Costa
Sporting Director: Luca Baldisserri
Motor Sport Press Officer: Luca Colajanni
Track and Technical Management
Technical Director: Aldo Costa
Engine and lectronic: Gilles Simon
Chief Designer: Nikolas Tombazis
Race Engineer - Car 1: Chris Dyer
Race Engineer - Car 2: Rob Smedley
Test Team and Test Operations Manager: Luigi Mazzola
Technical Specifications
F2008
Carbon-fibre and honeycomb composite structure
Ferrari longitudinal gearbox, limited-slip differential
Semiautomatic sequential electronically controlled gearbox - quick shift
Number of gears: 7 + reverse
Ventilated carbon-fibre Brembo disc brakes
Independent suspension, push-rod activated torsion springs front and rear
Weight with water, lubricant and driver: 605 kg
BBS Wheels (front and rear): 13''
Type 056
Number of cylinders: 8
Cylinder block in cast aluminium V90 degrees
Number of valves: 32
Pneumatic distribution
Total displacement: 2398 cm3
Piston bore: 98 mm
Weight: > 95 kg
Magneti Marelli digital electronic injection
Magneti Marelli static electronic ignition
Fuel Shell V-Power ULG 64
Lubricant Shell SL-1098
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