Ferrari

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Base: Maranello - Italy
Team Principal: Stefano Domenicali
Drivers: K Räikkönen
F Massa
Test Drivers: L Badoer
M Gene
Chassis: F2008
Engine: Ferrari Type 056
Tyres: Bridgestone Potenza
First Season: 1950
World Championships: 15
Highest race finish: 1 (x206)
Pole Positions: 200
Fastest Laps: 212

2007

Win intense battle with McLaren, on track and in court. Kimi Raikkonen takes drivers' title after late-season surge in form. Also wrap up constructors' championship after McLaren found guilty of benefitting from possession of confidential Ferrari data.

2006

Initially play second fiddle to Renault, but Michael Schumacher leads fightback with seven victories in his final Formula One season. Team move ahead of Renault with just three rounds to go, but rare reliability issues see them beaten to title by just five points.

2005

Struggle with new regulations, in particular those requiring tyres to last through qualifying and race. Seven podiums, including one victory at Indianapolis, where Michelin withdrawal leaves six-car field. Finish third in constructors' standings.

2004

Lose just three times in 18 races to take the constructors' crown for the sixth year in a row. An incredible 13 victories for Michael Schumacher sees him take championship number seven.

2003

A much tougher season, but still ultimately unbeatable. A record fifth successive constructors' title, with Michael Schumacher the first man to take six drivers' crowns.

2000 - 2002

Ferrari enter a period of total domination, winning both drivers' and constructors' titles three years in a row.

1999

Michael Schumacher misses six rounds after breaking leg at Silverstone. Team take constructors' championship in the last race but Eddie Irvine just falls short of drivers' title.

1983

Ferrari wins their eighth constructors' championship.

1979

Jody Scheckter wins the drivers' championship - it will be the team's last drivers' title for 21 years.

1975 - 1977

Niki Lauda takes the 1975 drivers' championship and comes back from his horrific accident in 1976, going on to grab a second title for the team in 1977.

1964

John Surtees, a former world motorcycle champion, takes the drivers' crown. He remains the only man to achieve the feat on two wheels and four.

1961

Phil Hill leads Ferrari to the double of both drivers' and constructors' championships.

1958

Mike Hawthorn becomes the third Ferrari driver to win the drivers' championship.

1956

Juan Manuel Fangio wins his fourth drivers' championship with the Scuderia.

1952

Alberto Ascari wins first of two back-to-back drivers' championships in a Ferrari.

1951

Jose Froilan Gonzalez records Ferrari's first victory at the British Grand Prix.

History

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The Formula One series has its roots in the European Grand Prix Motor Racing (q.v. for pre-1947 history) of the 1920s and 1930s. The "formula" is a set of rules which all participants and cars must meet. Formula One was a new formula agreed after World War II in 1946, with the first non-championship races being held that year. A number of Grand Prix racing organisations had laid out rules for a World Championship before the war, but due to the suspension of racing during the conflict, the World Drivers' Championship was not formalised until 1947. The first world championship race was held at Silverstone, United Kingdom in 1950. A championship for constructors followed in 1958. National championships existed in South Africa and the UK in the 1960s and 1970s. Non-championship Formula One races were held for many years but, due to the rising cost of competition, the last of these occurred in 1983.

The sport's title, Formula One, indicates that it is intended to be the most advanced and most competitive of the FIA's racing formula.


The manufacturers' return (2000–2007)
Michael Schumacher and Ferrari won an unprecedented five consecutive drivers’ championships and six consecutive constructors’ championships between 1999 and 2004. Schumacher set many new records, including those for Grand Prix wins (91), wins in a season (13 of 18), and most drivers' championships . Schumacher's championship streak ended on September 25, 2005 when Renault driver Fernando Alonso became Formula One’s youngest champion. In 2006, Renault and Alonso won both titles again. Schumacher retired at the end of 2006 after sixteen years in Formula One.

During this period the championship rules were frequently changed by the FIA with the intention of improving the on-track action and cutting costs. Team orders, legal since the championship started in 1950, were banned in 2002 after several incidents in which teams openly manipulated race results, generating negative publicity, most famously by Ferrari at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix. Other changes included the qualifying format, the points scoring system, the technical regulations and rules specifying how long engines and tyres must last. A 'tyre war' between suppliers Michelin and Bridgestone saw lap times fall, although at the 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis seven out of ten teams did not race when their Michelin tyres were deemed unsafe for use. During 2006, Max Mosley outlined a ‘green’ future for Formula One, in which efficient use of energy would become an important factor. And the tyre war ended, as Bridgestone became the sole tyre supplier to Formula One for the 2007 season.

Since 1983, Formula One had been dominated by specialist race teams like Williams, McLaren and Benetton, using engines supplied by large car manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Renault and Ford. Starting in 2000 with Ford’s creation of the largely unsuccessful Jaguar team, new manufacturer-owned teams entered Formula One for the first time since the departure of Alfa Romeo and Renault at the end of 1985. By 2006, the manufacturer teams – Renault, BMW, Toyota, Honda and Ferrari – dominated the championship, taking five of the first six places in the constructors' championship. The sole exception was McLaren, which is part-owned by Mercedes Benz. Through the Grand Prix Manufacturers Association (GPMA) they negotiated a larger share of Formula One’s commercial profit and a greater say in the running of the sport.

Formula One

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Formula One, abbreviated to F1, and in modern times also known as Grand Prix motor racing, is the highest class of open wheeled auto racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport world's governing body. The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which all participants and cars must conform. The F1 world championship season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, held usually on purpose-built circuits, and in a few cases on closed city streets, the most famous of which is the Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo. The results of each race are combined to determine two annual World Championships, one for drivers and one for constructors.

The cars race at high speeds, up to 360 km/h (225 mph), and are capable of pulling up to 5g in some corners. The performance of the cars is highly dependent on electronics, aerodynamics, suspension and tyres. The formula has seen many evolutions and changes through the history of the sport.

Europe is Formula One's traditional centre; all of the teams are based there and around half the races take place there. In particular the United Kingdom has produced the most number of Drivers' Champions , and the vast majority of Constructors' Champions . However, its scope has expanded significantly in recent years and Grands Prix are now held all over the world. Events in Europe and the Americas have been dropped in favour of new ones in Bahrain, China, Malaysia and Turkey, with Singapore scheduled to hold the first night race in 2008 and India being added to the schedule starting in 2010. Of the eighteen races in 2008, nine are outside Europe.

It is a massive television event, with millions of people watching each race worldwide. As the world's most expensive sport,[citation needed] its economic effect is significant, and its financial and political battles are widely observed. On average about 55 million people all over the world watch Formula One races live. Its high profile and popularity makes it an obvious merchandising environment, which leads to very high investments from sponsors, translating into extremely high budgets for the constructor teams. Several teams have gone bankrupt or been bought out by other companies since 2000.