The Stats
FIRST GP: 1950 | GPS: 1095 | Titles: 16 | WINS: 248 | POLES: 253 | PODIUMS: 825
Full Team Name | Scuderia Ferrari |
Base | Maranello, Italy |
Team Principal | Frédéric Vasseur |
Technical Director | Enrico Gualtieri |
Chassis | SF-23 |
Engine | Ferrari 066/12 |
First Podium | Monaco 50 | Ascari |
First Win | Britain 51 | González |
Last Win | Mexico City 24 | Sainz |
Last Podium | Mexico City 24 | Sainz, Leclerc |
Most Successful Track | Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Italy | 20 wins, 30 x 2nd, 24 x 3rd |
The Drivers
Charles Leclerc
AGE: 27 | GPS: 144 | CHAMP. BEST: 2nd | WINS: 8 | POLES: 26 | PODIUMS: 41
Carlos Sainz
AGE: 30 | GPs: 203 | CHAMP. BEST: 5TH | Wins: 4 | Poles: 6 | PODIUMS: 25
The Bio
For many, Ferrari and Formula 1 racing have become inseparable. The only team to have competed in every season since the world championship began, the Prancing Horse has grown from the humble dream of founder Enzo Ferrari to become one of the most iconic and recognised brands in the world.
The team actually missed the first ever Formula 1 race, due to a dispute regarding the ‘start money’ paid to entrants, but debuted a week later at the Monaco Grand Prix. Success came quickly through Alberto Ascari; the Italian became the first driver to win back-to-back championships in 1952 and 1953. Further titles came over the next decade thanks to Mike Hawthorn, Phil Hill and John Surtees, before a leaner spell in the late 60s and early 70s as Lotus and Jackie Stewart became the dominant forces.
Niki Lauda brought two championship doubles in 1975 and 1977 but left Ferrari after taking issue with the way the team dealt with the aftermath of his near-fatal crash at the Nürburgring. Jody Scheckter won another title in 1979, but that would prove to be the last championship trophy brought back to Maranello for more than two decades. 1982 would likely have seen a title bar for the tragedy of losing both drivers to disastrous crashes – first Gilles Villeneuve and then teammate Didier Pironi.
It was Michael Schumacher who eventually broke the winless streak for the Scuderia when, after near misses in previous years – and one championship disqualification for his not-so-subtle attempt to crash into Jacques Villeneuve – he beat Mika Häkkinen to the 2000 World Championship. It was, in fact, the start of a period of intense domination as Ferrari claimed a then unprecedented five consecutive title doubles, with Schumacher taking every title and breaking every record the sport had to offer.
Kimi Räikkönen replaced the retiring German in 2007 and immediately took the title, albeit with a lot of help from the civil war at McLaren. That remains the most recent Drivers’ Championship at Ferrari, however. Fernando Alonso came agonisingly close in 2010 and 2012, losing out to the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel at the final race. Vettel then replaced Alonso in 2015 but was no more successful, his closest calls coming in battles with Lewis Hamilton in 2017 and 2018.
Ferrari’s latest star is Charles Leclerc. A Ferrari junior, the young Monegasque signed up for the Prancing Horse in 2019 and immediately beat the four-time world champion on the other side of the garage. 2020 was a chastening year for Ferrari as they fell to a lowly sixth in the World Constructors’ Championship. Carlos Sainz joined for 2021 as the red team set its sights on reclaiming what it sees as its rightful place at the very front of the grid.