Planet-F1

Ferrari

Monday 20th February 2006

The most famous name in F1 and the most successful, Ferrari fought back in the first year of the post-Schumacher era to claim a clean sweep of the titles, earning them the role of favourites for this year's Championships.

An ever-present since the first GP back in 1950, Ferrari are as much an F1 racing institution as it is a world institution.

Their F1 story started at Silverstone in 1951 when Froilan Gonzalez recorded their first GP win.

The following year the legendary Alberto Ascari won the first of his two consecutive drivers' titles in a Ferrari.

Though the 1950's and 1960's success came at regular intervals with a number of the great Champions such as Fangio, Hawthorn Phil Hill and John Surtees.

In addition, the team secured constructors' titles in 1961 and 1964.

However, the apogee of their power would come in the 1970's, winning the constructors' championship four times, including a hat-trick through 1975, 1976 and 1977.

Niki Lauda took the drivers' title in '75 and '77 and but for a horrendous accident at Nurburgring in which he almost lost his life, the little Austrian would have prevailed in 1976 as well.

Ferrari finished the decade in style with Jody Scheckter winning the 1979 drivers' championship and helping them to the constructors' title the same year.

After that however, the team struggled, with just three titles (constructors' in 1982, '83 and '99), as rivals McLaren and Williams established themselves.

They also suffered terrible misfortune, the tragic death of Gilles Villeneuve in 1982 probably denied him and the team the title and Alain Prost was denied the drivers' crown in 1990 after Ayrton Senna took him out of the final race at Suzuka.

In fact Ferrari's win at Jerez in September 1990 turned out to be their last GP win until July 1994 as they struggled with an uncompetitive and unreliable car.

However, the arrival of Jean Todt as team boss and designer John Barnard began a slow revival of the team's fortunes.

The signing of Michael Schumacher from Benetton before the start of the 1996 season brought them success on a more regular basis.

In 1999, having taken the title to the wire for the third successive season, Ferrari were rewarded with the constructors' title.

But when Schumacher crashed out of the British GP (subsequently missing the next six races), it was left to Eddie Irvine to take up the fight. The Ulsterman gave it his best shot, but it was not to be.

It was to be in 2000 as Ferrari finally ended their 21- year drought.

Following a tremendous start to the season when the German won three successive GPs, McLaren began to gain the upper hand. However, a string of great performances at the end of the season saw Schumacher claim his third (and Ferrari's 10th) drivers' title.

Another triumph followed in 2001 and in 2002 Schumacher's dominance reached epic proportions. The German won 11 times with Ferrari winning 15 out of 17 races, narrowly failing to beat McLaren's 15-from-16 win percentage of 1988.

Though the F2002 was a truly remarkable race car, the team personnel were criticised for their blinkered view of the sport by imposing team orders at only the sixth race of the year in Austria when Rubens Barrichello was asked to give up the win.t Indianapolis, Schumacher eased up just short of the line and accidentally handed him a race win back, which prompted renewed criticism.

Team orders were scrapped for 2003, but that did little to stop Schumacher from winning his sixth title. He claimed six wins, while team-mate Barrichello won a further two, handing Ferrari their fifth successive teams' title.

Remarkably, 2004 proved to be an even more comfortable stroll for the team as Schumacher notched 13 wins, including the first five of the campaign, and by the halfway stage the incredible German had yet another title in the bag. The constructors' crown - aided by two Barrichello victories - duly followed.

But nothing lasts forever and in 2005 Ferrari and Schumacher's success story came to a crashing end as they lost both titles to Renault.

The general consensus in the paddock was that the blame rested squarely with Bridgestone - the tyre manufacturer struggling to come up with a product hardy enough to last qualifying's three laps as well as Sunday's entire grand-prix distance. And last the required distance with speed.

As a result was the F2005 seldom kept pace with the Renaults and McLarens and while new champion Fernando Alonso and runner-up Kimi Raikkonen claimed seven wins apiece, Schumacher managed just one, a tainted victory at the controversial United States GP which took place sans the Michelin runners who were withdrawn on safety grounds. It was also Ferrari's sole victory of the year.

2006 promised a reversal of fortunes with the change of tyre regulations expected to favour Bridgestone, Schumacher, and his new team-mate Felipe Massa .

The season began with Ferrari on the back foot and losing out to Renault in the opening three races. However, Schumacher fought back to win the San Marino and European races, thereby entering the title fight. It proved to be a titanic battle - and a farewell.

After swapping wins throughout the season with Alonso, Schumi marked victory in Italy by announcing he would be retiring from Formula One. Ferrari immediately confirmed he would be replaced with Kimi Raikkonen.

Determined to go out on a high, Schumacher won the grand prix of China and took the lead in the fight for the Drivers' Championship title. However, an engine retirement in Japan brought his title hopes crashing to a halt and even though he drove the race of his life in the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, which was won by Massa, it wasn't enough to secure him the Drivers' title or Ferrari the titles victories.

But without Schumacher driving in 2007 there were some doubts over whether new driver Kimi Raikkonen could lead the team to further glory. The Scuderia, though, were quick to prove that they are more than just a one-man outfit as Raikkonen clinched won the Australian Grand Prix von his debut for the team.

McLaren quickly responded, however, and the two teams soon broke away from the chasing pack to battle top honours and the lead in the Championships. The feud between the teams then took an unexpected twist with McLaren accused of stealing Ferrari's secret technical data. The resulting FIA hearings and court action dominated the season's headlines, detracting from the on-track battle, which continued to rage.

The spy scandal, known as Stepneygate after it was found that former Ferrari mechanic Nigel Stepney had provided McLaren with the information, also saw Ferrari handed the Constructors' Championship title by default after McLaren were excluded from the battle.

The Woking team, though, remained in the Drivers' hunt, while first Felipe Massa and then Raikkonen appeared to be out of the hunt. However, three victories in