Scuderia Ferrari

- Published on Dec 10th, 2010 by The Badger

F1's oldest and most successful team, Ferrari are more closely linked with grand prix racing than any other organisation. Such is their importance to the continued appeal of the sport, commerical rights holder Bernie Ecclestone openly admits to granting more concessions to the team than any other.

A run through of their drivers is a veritable who's who of Formula One: Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Niki Lauda, Gilles Villeneuve, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso represent some of the finest drivers the sport has seen, and they are just a selection of the talents who've turned out in the famous red cars of Maranello.

The Prancing Horse leads the pack

Founded by former racer Enzo Ferrari, the Scuderia made their F1 debut at the second race of the category's inaugural season in 1950. The following year José Froilán González grabbed their maiden win at the British Grand Prix, before Alberto Ascari claimed their first world title with a dominant six wins from seven events in '52. The Italian repeated his championship success the following year, and with Juan Manuel Fangio (1956) and Mike Hawthorn (1958) also claiming the title aboard Ferraris the team would end the fifties as the most successful team in F1.

Two more titles followed in the sixties, American Phil Hill taking the honours in '61 and former motorcycle world champion John Surtees claiming the crown in '68. However they'd have to wait a further seven years before they took drivers' title number seven, with Austrian Niki Lauda becoming champ in 1975 and repeating the feat in '77. Following the Austrian's departure Jody Scheckter was champion in 1979, leading a Ferrari one-two in the standings with Gilles Villeneuve finishing as runner-up.

A Horse in the wilderness

Following Scheckter's title a long barren patch ensued for Ferrari, with no world drivers' championships for close-to two decades following the South African's triumph. However they remained a force in the constructor's championship in the eighties, with titles in 1982 and '83 and runner-up spot in '84, '85, '88 1990.

During this time Enzo Ferrari died, the team's founding father passing away in 1988; at the subsequent grand prix, in Italy, the team claimed a remarkable one-two, the only event of that season not won a McLaren.

Return of the Horse as an F1 force

Despite running the likes of Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost in the late eighties and early nineties Ferrari remained without a drivers title during this period. But things began to turn around when former Peugeot WRC boss Jean Todt was put in charge of the team in 1993; the subsequent addition of double world champion Michael Schumacher and tech boffins Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne and Aldo Costa would create a world beating line-up. After claiming the constructors title in 1999 Ferrari made the new millennium their own, with Schumacher claiming the drivers' crown five times on the bounce between 2000 and 2004, during which time the Scuderia also picked up five more constructors' triumphs. The German retired in 2006 and the dream team eventually disbanded, but the signing of Kimi Raikonnen for 2007 saw the Finn add yet another title. Felipe Massa went mighty close in 2008 as did Fernando Alonso in 2010, meaning Ferrari  drivers have been heavily involved in all but two world championship battles since 1997. They are the only team to have won a race in each of the past 17 seasons and remain a genuine pre-season title challenger each time a new year rolls around.