By Marcella Gallace
To celebrate Ferrari’s ninetieth birthday and Formula One’s season opening in Melbourne this weekend, we look back at the Italian manufactures history in F1.
UNO: Oldest team in F1
Scuderia Ferrari is the oldest active Formula One team, competing every year since the Formula One World Championship began in 1950. This year will mark 69 years of Ferrari in F1 who also celebrate their 90th birthday.
DUE: Most Successful Team in F1
Granted they have had a few more years than most teams to set their name in stone but that only gives testament to their longevity. There have been over 170 different teams that have entered F1 since 1950. The likes of Aston Martin, BMW, Honda, Toyota, Jaguar, Lamborghini and many more have come and gone.
Ferrari won a staggering five Driver’s Championships back-to-back from 2000-2004 with Michael Schumacher. They held the record for the most consecutive wins by a team until last year when Mercedes won the championship, making them the only other team to cement five championships in a row.
Ferrari have won a total of 16 Constructors Championships, 15 Drivers’ Championships and 235 race victories. Now that’s a lot of champagne to be popping.
TRE: Only One Italian has won a Championship for Ferrari
There have been 98 Italian drivers in the history of F1.
The first and only Italian driver to win a Drivers’ Championship for Ferrari was by Alberto Ascari who won back-to-back in 1952 and 1953 for the team.
Only one other Italian driver has won the Championship in F1 - Giuseppe Farina in 1950 for Alfa Romeo.
QUATTRO: One of the Biggest Budgets
Ferrari don’t like to give too much away, we’re talking anything from keeping the tyre selection of their racing cars behind closed garage doors to their finances.
However, in 2015 when they listed on the New York Stock Exchange it meant Ferrari’s expenditure became a little more exposed than they would like. Let us remember that Ferrari’s F1 team is not incorporated, so their reports are for the company as a unit, making it a little tricky to know exactly how much the team is spending.
According to German magazine Auto Bild, the approximate budget for Ferrari in 2018 was 430 million euro. Second to Mercedes whose budget was approximated at 450 million euro. A fair stretch behind was Red Bull at an approximate 350 million euro with McLaren and all other teams estimated at approximately 250 million euro and below.
What’s most interesting in F1 is winning mentality, profit is not the benchmark of success here, victory on the track is. Teams are happy to spend all of their income, even more than they make in revenue, to win.
In the end, this pays off in terms of sponsorship with brands wanting to collaborate with winners. However, it is a very strong mindset that it is better to be in financial debt and win than to be making a profit and losing.
CINQUE: Not Present in Netflix Series
Last week Netflix dropped their new series Formula One: Drive to Survive. It has been created by the same man who did Senna, the documentary that focused on former F1 Champion, Ayrton Senna.
Two out of eight F1 teams are not present in Formula One: Drive to Survive - Ferrari and Mercedes.
The 10-part series begins at the Barcelona testing with Ferrari and Mercedes opting out of the show, which documents the 2018 F1 season. Former team principal of Ferrari, Maurizio Arrivabene, has been known to keep his cards close to his chest, so it comes at no huge surprise that he wouldn’t allow a camera crew into Ferrari’s garages. While Mercedes said it would distract them from focusing on the championship.
The show gives a captivating glimpse into the world of F1, cameras roaming through the paddocks and into the garages. Spectator meets driver, piggybacking off Daniel Ricciardo as we follow him from his racing seat to his team meetings.
Formula One: Drive to Survive are currently negotiating a second season and F1’s head of motorsport Ross Brawn wants all teams to be involved in the future series.
"This sport is able to grow, and it will grow quicker if all the teams are part of that process, there's no doubt," he said.
Although the second series has not been confirmed, cameras were rolling at the 2019 Barcelona testing and will be present this weekend at the Australian Formula One season opening.
Ferrari does eventually relent and give limited access toward the end of the current series. With a new team principal at Ferrari, there is hope that if the series does get a second season, Ferrari will be more active in it.
Catch the first race of the season this Sunday, 17 March, at 4:10pm (AEST).
You can also find this article at Il Globo.