Ferrari F1

Born in Modena on 18th February 1898, Enzo Ferrari joined the racing team for Alfa Romero where his career progressed from a test driver to a racing driver and then sales assistant until eventually becoming the Director of the Alfa Racing Division in 1939.

Enzo Ferrari went on to create Scuderia Ferrai in Modeno in 1929 with the purpose of organising racing for its members. His passionate involvement in motor racing led to the formation of the official racing team and Scuderia became a division of Alfa Romero with Scuderia Ferrari taking control of the racing team in 1933. In 1940 Scuderia broke its connection with Alfa Romero and went on to form an independent organisation called "Auto Avio Costruzioni Ferrari" working for the national Aviation Company in Rome.

The first Ferraris were not built until 1946 and went on to win the Grand Prixs, the Mille Miglia and Le Mans. Ferrari then signed up with Formula 1 in 1950 with Alberto Ascari winning the title in 1952. Enzo Ferrari died in 1988.

The Ferrari name is known for its luxury sports cars that are highly sought after by those who can afford one, but Ferrari's main reason to exist is to race in Formula 1. With some of the world's greatest drivers like Ascari, Fangio, Surtees, Lauda, Hill and Villeneuve to name but a few, Ferrari is a Formula 1 team of the highest esteem. Ferrari went on to hit highs and lows in Formula 1 until 1982 when the death of Villeneuve and the team's last constructors' title in 1983 brought Ferrari to an all time low in its history of Formula 1.

Jean Todt joined Ferrari as sporting director in 1993 and went on to bring together his expertise and skills to turn the Ferrari team around to again become one of the dominant teams in Formula 1. With the hiring of Schumacher from the winning Benetton team as well as their technical director Ross Brawn and designer Rory Byrne, Ferrari went on to lead in the longest success for both drivers' and constructors' titles by a driver and team in Formula 1's history. Ferrari in turn won all constructors' titles from 1999 to 2004 and drivers' titles from 2000 to 2004.

Schumacher retired from Ferrari and Formula 1 racing in 2006 but continued to work for Ferrari and Formula 1 as assistant to Jean Todt to select the team's future drivers. In 2009 Formula 1 made substantial changes to the regulations, in particular car aerodynamics, leaving Ferrari's F60 outclassed by those of teams like Red Bull Racing and Brawn GP which gave Ferrari the worst start to a season in the history of Scuderia Ferrari. Ferrari's form improved later that year with wins from Raikkonen and Massa, until a freak accident in Budapest when Massa suffered concussion which left him unable to compete in any further Grand Prix in 2009.

Ferrari launched its 2011 car, the Ferrari "1500 Italia" at Maranello in January 2011. The present Ferrari Formula 1 team drivers are Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa with Jules Bianchi as reserve driver. With Stefano Domenicali as team principal, Pat Fry as 'chassis' director and Luca Colajanni the PR Manager, Ferrari Formula 1 are confident they have a winning team for next season.