Ferrari’s devotion to racing led to the accolades of being the most successful engine manufacturer.

The birth of Formula 1

Enzo Ferrari began his journey to become a paragon of motorsport in 1929. Originally an opportunity to enter amateur drivers into races, Ferrari used Alfa Romeo-produced cars to race in many categories. In 1947, Enzo took over production of the cars and two years later in 1949 they took their first of 11 victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

When Formula 1 became the World Championship as it’s known today, Scuderia Ferrari was part of its conception. They represent the only team competing in the championship since its beginning and since then have become synonymous with the series.

As a works team since the beginning of the F1, they provided engines for teams up and down the grid. Over the years they have supplied teams such as Minardi, Sauber, Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Force India and Marussia.

However, their start in F1 was rocky. They didn’t enter the first ever F1 Grand Prix which was held in Britain due to disputes over start money. By the second round in Monaco, Scuderia Ferrari was ready to make their debut but they were beaten consistently by Alfa Romeo in their inaugural season but were scoring podiums with the likes of Alberto Ascari.

The famed prancing horses took their first-ever Formula One win in 1951 with Jose Froilan Gonzalez winning the British Grand Prix before going on to win two more races that year with Ascari. Only a year later Ferrari managed to cement itself further into the history of Formula One. Winning their first of 15 Drivers’ Championships with Ascari.

The 21-year drought

By 1996 Ferrari had their prestige in F1 cemented, with a legacy of prestige and performance surrounding the prancing horses. However, it had been a gruelling 17 years without a drivers’ championship and 13 years without a constructors’ championship. However, hope was on the horizon with the addition of a V10 engine and the talented Michael Schumacher.

The early days of the V10 were filled with disappointments after hopes that Schumacher would return the team to the top step felt short. But the struggles pushed the Maranello team forward and urged them closer to a title.

In 1999, they brought the Tipo 048/B/C engine, a V10 that produced 790 HP at 16,300 RPM and with its 80-degree angle it was able to reduce the height of the engine and the centre of gravity. Its ability to generate more power than Ferrari’s previous engines led to Ferrari picking up its first Constructors’ title in 16 years.

2000 saw a 90-degree angle in the engine, producing between 805 and 815 HP at 17,300 RPM. The powerful and impressive Tipo 049 engine powered the Ferrari F1-2000 and took the team to heights they had yet to experience.

For the 2000 F1 season, Ferrari had managed to largely improve their cooling and they had implemented small details changes to take weight off of the car making it as light as possible. Despite being the best Ferrari of its generation so far, it still found itself behind the MP4/15 mostly due to its poor tyre degradation.

Luckily, Michael Schumacher proved that the driver plays just as important a role as the car. With constant upgrades being brought and changes implemented throughout the season Michael Schumacher won nine races and despite suffering three DNFs in a row, he took Ferrari back to the top step with both constructors’ and drivers’ championship titles.

The golden era of V10s

With new regulations being brought in 2001, Ferrari designed their Ferrari F2001 car with higher-mounted front wings and a drooped nose which reduced downforce on the cars. The 2001 F1 season also reintroduced traction and launch-control systems.

However, 2001 also signalled the beginning of Ferrari’s arguably most successful generation of engines, the Tipo 05χ engines.

The Tipo 050 engine was another 90-degree V10 which produced 825 HP at 17,300 RPM much like the 2000 engine. However, the engine could produce 900 HP during qualifying. This engine achieved Schumacher an incredibly consistent season with just three finishes that weren’t first or second.

After two impressive championship-winning seasons, Ferrari leapt forward with what is often regarded as one of the best engines/cars in F1 history the F2002 and the Tipo 051 engine.

Despite being the second in the Tipo 05χ engines, it could not be more different from its predecessor. With all the main components of the engine revised. The engine block, cylinder heads and transmissions were all edited to make a smaller, stiffer and lighter engine.

They began testing the engine in 2001 which meant by the start of the 2002 F1 season, reliability was not an issue. In the race, the engine supplied 865 HP at 18,600 RPM and in qualifying it was up to 900 HP at 17,800 RPM.

Michael Schumacher and Ferrari stormed through the 2002 season with all races bar two won by a Ferrari. Schumacher won 11 of them. Ferrari’s engines and chassis worked in perfect harmony to create a powerful entity on track which truly set itself apart from the field.

The success continued into 2003, and again in 2004. With five consecutive Drivers’ Championships and six Constructors’ championships, there was nowhere for Scuderia Ferrari to go but down.

The final championship

In 2005, Ferrari broke their successful championship streak and it would be two years before they saw the glory the V10 had brought them.

By 2007, Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher out of Ferrari and had been replaced by the Brazillian, Felipe Massa and the Finn, Kimi Räikkönen.

The Tipo 056 was the V8 engine used from 2006 to 2013 by Ferrari. It marked a return to V8 engines for the first time in forty years. The naturally aspirated engine with the Ferrari F2007 chassis manned by Kimi Räikkönen won six races while his teammate Massa won three.

2007 was the year of Spygate, a corporate espionage scandal where Ferrari’s head of performance, Nigel Stepney was giving information to McLaren engineer Mike Coughlan. However, the scandal did not keep Ferrari from the championship with Räikkönen holding off the rookie Lewis Hamilton to take his first and only title.

Ferrari is yet to return to the glory of the early 2000s with 17 years since they won a Formula One Drivers’ Championship and 18 since they won a Contructors’ Championship.

The hybrid era was tough for Scuderia Ferrari with their engines struggling with reliability or power. 2024 saw them get closest to the Contructors’ Championship in recent years. Whereas 2022 was the closest they have gotten to the Drivers’ Championship.

For a team that holds the record for most championships, pole positions, fastest laps, laps led, 1-2 finished, wins with 248 and stands clear as the most successful constructor and engine manufacturer in the history of the sport. It feels like only a matter of time before they are back at the front,