The path to Formula 1 glory was never easy for Ferrari. Williams and McLaren completely dominated F1 in the late 80s and the 90s. The other lone title was won by Benetton, driven by Michael Schumacher in 1995. Ferrari was nowhere to be seen for 15 years since their last championship title victory in 1983. However, the Maranello outfit had been working towards their resurgence since the start of the 90s. The comeback process started when then-Ferrari CEO Luca di Montezemolo hired French executive Jean Todt to become the General Manager of Scuderia Ferrari. The final piece in the puzzle was put in when Jean Todt convinced Michael Schumacher to join Ferrari in 1996.
In the book Michael Schumacher: The Edge of Greatness, James Allen writes that Ferrari had to bring their main sponsor Phillip Morris on board with their plan to hire Schumacher. The two entities invested around $125,000,000 to get Michael Schumacher into their team. And with how the team’s fate turned out, it’s safe to say that their investments paid off.
Ferrari, thanks to Michael Schumacher, was back on top by the early 2000s
Michael Schumacher’s move to Ferrari in 1996 also saw Ross Brawn making the same move to the Scuderia the following year. Brawn joined the team as the Technical Director ahead of the 1997 season, and with Todt as the team principal, Ferrari was finally ready to complete their comeback.
Ferrari kept adding young talented engineers to their ranks. One of the most prominent names would be Mattia Binotto, who joined the Engine department in 1995. The Scuderia had to keep patience for a few more years as they narrowly missed out on the drivers’ title by a mere few points in the season’s last race in 1997 and 1998. They also failed to win the driver’s championship in 1999 but marked their comeback by winning the Constructor’s Championship that year.
Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, and chief designer Rory Bryne, who had also moved over to Ferrari from Benetton along with Brawn, were hailed as the Ferrari ‘dream team‘ that helped Schumacher win his five consecutive World Championship titles. After years of struggle, the ‘Made in Italy’ brand was back at the top and would remain there for quite some time.
The Ferrari Dominance
The Constructor’s Title in 1999 was just a trailer of what was to come. Ferrari would go on to win five more Constructors’ Championships in the next five years. They had complete dominance over the field from 2000 to 2004 as Michael Schumacher made the best of his opportunities and won five Driver’s Championship titles.
The dominance would come to an end in 2005 when the Maranello outfit passed over the baton to Renault, and Fernando Alonso became the world champion. By the end of 2006, Ferrari had rebuilt a competitive car again. They clinched another championship in 2007, with Kimi Raikkonen winning the Driver’s title. They would win the Constructor’s title in 2008 as well, but Felipe Massa narrowly missed out on the driver’s title in the season’s last race.
However, since then, it has only been a downfall for Ferrari. 2008 was the last year Ferrari had managed to win any title. Even though the team managed to fight for race wins every once in a while, they could not really fight for the championship. Ferrari is currently a top-of-the-midfield team with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz at the helm. The Scuderia desperately wants to make a comeback like they did in the late 90s.
