RACING LEGENDS

Ferrari 641

Hands up who remembers 1989... hands up who was even born in 1989. Well, panic not, all you need to know is that big things happened in F1 back then. Motorsport’s legislative seesaw meant that turbocharging was banned from the 1989 season, and Ferrari engine man Claudio Lombardi had overseen the development of an all-new, quad-cam 3.5-litre V12, a unit that revved to an ear-popping 12,000rpm-plus. But Ferrari’s 1989 car, the 641, is better remembered for marking the debut of the semi-automatic paddleshift gearbox, an innovation that would turn the sport upside down. It also gave new Scuderia signing Nigel Mansell a frst-place debut in Brazil, a result that surprised everyone.

The groundbreaking powertrain was fxed to the chassis as a fully stressed member, but following that amazing debut there were constant reliability and performance problems for Mansell and his teammate Gerhard Berger.

The hunt for consistency was helped by the arrival at Ferrari for the 1990 season of one Alain Prost, reigning world champion, setting up another battle with former McLaren teammate and arch rival, Ayrton Senna. Prost worked wonders with the 641, winning in Brazil, and taking back-to-back wins in Mexico, France, and at Silverstone, while Mansell fnally scored his sole victory that season in Portugal, with Prost triumphant again a week later in Spain. Six wins was enough to give Ferrari second place in the constructor’s championship, while Prost was seven points adrift of Senna in the drivers’ title battle, the season ending with yet another banzai move from the Brazilian who famously nerfed his rival of the track.

Prost had many things to say about Senna, but more illuminating were his thoughts on the team and the car. “Whatever happens, I feel that, technically, Ferrari has won the championship this year, because we have the best car…”

A year later, the sublime and successful 641 had been so thoroughly eclipsed by its lighter V10 rivals that Prost was moved to publicly vilify the team and its creation. “The car was like a horrible truck to drive. No pleasure at all,” he said.

And with that, Ferrari fred him.