18.08.2004 Ferrari recall the lead-up to their 14th constructors' championship - it was no easy matter

1961

Ferrari and its drivers dominated the season, taking both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles with the Dino 156 F1. The team won five races (Phill Hill took three, and Wolfgang von Trips and Giancarlo Baghetti took one apiece) out of eight entered. The championship was a close-run thing between the German and the American with the Drivers’ title being decided at Monza. Tragedy struck when von Trips’ car crashed into the grandstand killing 13 spectators. Unaware of the death of his team-mate, Hill went on to win the race and take the Championship, but his joy soon vanished when he returned to the pits.  

Phill Hill	Wolfgang von Trips	Giancarlo Baghetti

1964

John Surtees became the first and only driver ever to take the highest accolade on two and four wheels. His success in Formula 1 came thanks to the 158 F1, the car that marked Ferrari’s return to 8-cylinder engines. With help from his team-mate Lozeno Bandini, Surtees won the title with just a one-point margin over Graham Hill after the BRM driver retired in Mexico . Ferrari fielded no fewer t han three different models during the season: along with the 158 F1, there was the 156 F1-63 (with which Bandini won Austria) and the 512 F1 equipped with a 12-cylinder boxer. Ferrari also took the Constructors’ title. On a different note, due to a disagreement between the FIA and Italian Automobile Federation, the 250 LM was refused homologation as Ferrari had not built nearly enough examples to reach the homologation level of 100.  As a result, Ferrari chose to enter his cars for the last two GPs of the season through the American importer, NART, and they raced in the white and blue North American Racing Team colours during the Watkins Glen and Mexico GPs.

John Surtees	Lorenzo Bandini

1975  

After 11 years, Ferrari was back on top, winning both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles. Niki Lauda clocked up five wins (Monaco, Belgium, Sweden, France and the USA), while Clay Regazzoni took victory at Monza on the day his team-mate won the title. The secret behind Ferrari’s success was the 312 T, the first of a highly competitive series of flat-12s with a transverse-mounted gearbox.

1976  

The year started the way the previous year had finished, with Ferrari dominating (six wins in the first nine races).  The 312 T2 proved itself to be a redoubtable successor to the previous version and gave Lauda the chance to build up an impressive championship lead. But a serious accident at the Nürburgring on the 1^st of August ruined Lauda’s hopes of a second Championship title. The team decided not to take part in the Austrian GP and returned for the Dutch GP. Even though he had not completely recovered, Lauda made his return at Monza in an attempt at fighting off Hunt’s attack on his lead. The show-down came in Japan when Lauda retired due to the pouring rain, leaving Hunt to take the Championship. Ferrari’s consolation came with the Constructors’ title.

Niki Lauda	'Clay' Regazzoni	Carlos Reutemann

1977  

After the misfortune of the previous year, Lauda reclaimed what should rightly have been his, taking his second World Championship. Ferrari made it a hat-trick in the Constructors’ Championship thanks to an improved version of the 312 T2. Ferrari won four of the season’s races – Carlos Reutemann, who had made his debut at the end of the previous year, won the Brazilian GP, while Lauda won the South African, German and Dutch GPs. Once he had secured the title, Lauda left his car in the capable hands of a young Canadian – Gilles Villeneuve – for the last two races of the season.

Niki Lauda	Carlos Reutemann	Gilles Villeneuve

1979  

Ferrari returned to form, dominating both the Championship classifications. Villeneuve and the South African Jody Scheckter were head and head in the Drivers’ rankings, winning three races apiece. Scheckter’s greater consistency made the difference. The 312 T3 was used for the opening races, and the 312 T4 debuted in South Africa, immediately bringing Ferrari a memorable 1-2. The car was a further evolution of the T series cars which had brought Maranello three Drivers’ titles and four Constructors’ titles. The apotheosis was Monza, where another 1-2 saw Villeneuve win, and Scheckter become World Champion.

1982  

A terrible destiny prevented Ferrari from winning a Drivers’ title that was there for the taking. One of the most popular Ferrari drivers of all time, Gilles Villeneuve, lost his life during practicing for the Belgian GP at Zolder on 8^th May. Less than three months later, Didier Pironi was seriously injured during the warm-up for the German GP and was unable to race for the rest of the season. The 126 C2 proved to be a particularly competitive car, a fact that ensured Ferrari would take the Constructors’ title thanks to the results of Patrick Tambay (who won at Hockenheim) and Mario Andretti. 

Gilles Villeneuve	Didier Pironi
Patrick Tambay	Mario Andretti

1983  

René Arnoux came very close to taking the Drivers’ Championship and was among the possible winners right up until the last race. Forced to retire early on in the race at Kyalami, Arnoux was unable to battle out the final result with Nelson Piquet. But thanks to his result and those of his fellow countrymen, Patrick Tambay, Arnoux brought Ferrari’s second consecutive Constructors’ title. The season’s wins were Imola (Tambay), Montreal, Hockenheim and Zandvoort (Arnoux). The 126 C2 was replaced by the C3 half-way  through the season.

1999  

After 16 years, Ferrari regained the Constructors’ title thanks to the combined efforts of Michael Schumacher, Eddie Irvine and Mika Salo. Salo was called in by Ferrari to drive six races in place of Schumacher after Michael was injured in an accident at Silverstone. After winning Imola and Monte Carlo early in the season, Schumacher was back for the last two races to help the team and Eddie who was in the running for the Drivers’ title. After his opening victory in Australia, Irvine went on to win the Austrian, German and Malaysian GPs but, as had happened in the past two years, he lost the Championship right at the last race in Suzuka, the overall victory going once more to Mika Hakkinen driving for McLaren.

Michael Schumacher	Eddie Irvine	Mika Salo

2000  

A record year for Ferrari, in every sense. 170 points, 10 wins, 10 pole positions and both Championship titles. After winning nine races, Michael Schumacher took the Drivers’ title, the first Ferrari driver to do so after 21 long years. With the vital support of Rubens Barrichello, who replaced Eddie Irvine, the team took the Constructors’ title for the second year running after a season full of suspense. Schumacher took a hat-trick of wins (Australia, Brazil and San Marino) at the start of the season and then won at the Nürburgring and Montreal, establishing a good lead. But July was a disaster – he retired at Magny-Cours and was out at the first corner at Zeltweg and Hockenheim. Barrichello saved the day in Germany with a marvellous race, taking his first ever victory, but Hakkinen was closing the gap and, with his wins at Budapest and Spa, took the lead in the championship. Behind in the points at Monza, Schumacher and Ferrari pulled off a series of excellent results: four consecutive pole positions and wins. Enough to guarantee Michael the Drivers’ title one race early. Ferrari then went on to finish the season in the best possible way – in Malaysia – by winning the Constructors’ title.

2001  

The confirmation year. Schumacher and Ferrari claim the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles, two months before the end of the season, with a magnificent double (Schumacher first; Barrichello second) at the Hungaroring circuit. The season is, without a doubt, an extraordinary one: 9 wins (Australia, Malaysia, Spain, Monaco, Europe, France, Hungary, Belgium and Japan); 9 pole positions, in the points 19 times, 15 of which on the podium. Ferrari ended the championship with a splendid victory at Suzuka circuit for a total of 179 World Constructors’ points and 123 Drivers’.

2002  

Another record year: as early as the French Grand Prix Schumacher continued his fifth World Drivers’ title, his third in succession. The Constructors’ title was won, by Ferrari, at the Hungarian Grand Prix – as it had been in 2001.  

The figures speak for themselves: 15 out of 17 races in the calendar won, 11 for Schumacher (Australia, Brazil, San Marino, Spain, Austria, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium and Japan) and 4 for Rubens Barrichello (Europe, Hungary, Italy and the USA). There were 10 pole positions: 7 for the German champion and 3 for the Brazilian; 144 points won by Michael, 221 by the Scuderia, as much as the total earned by all the other teams put together.

2003  

The regulations may have changed but the final result was the same: Schumacher and Ferrari are world champions once again. This year, though, the verdict came only at the last race, in Suzuka: Barrichello won the Japanese Grand Prix and Schumacher, with his eighth place, earned the point he needed to win his sixth world crown – his forth in succession. The Scuderia became the first team to claim the Constructors’ title five years on the trot. The Maranello outfit have now won 8 titles: Michael was victorious at Imola, Barcelona, Zeltweg, Montreal, Monza and Indianapolis; as well as his win at Suzuka, Rubens took top spot at Silverstone. 

Michael Schumacher	Rubens Barrichello

Text: Ferrari SpA and Italiaspeed