John Surtees

Ferrari wins 4 Ferrari titles 1

This winner of seven world motorcycle grand prix titles across 350cc and 500cc categories between 1956 and 1960 dovetailed his final year on two wheels with a handful of outings for Lotus in F1. He raced for Reg Parnell’s squad in 1961 and 1962, his fourth place in the latter championship driving a Lola bringing him to Ferrari’s attention.

Surtees was hired by Enzo Ferrari to lead the team in 1963, which yielded a win at the Nurburgring, but his title success was achieved the following year amid a star-studded scrap for supremacy. Reigning champion and Lotus star Jim Clark led the way at the midpoint of the season, but unreliability nixed the Scotsman’s hopes.

Surtees came on strong in the second half of the campaign, winning the German and Italian GPS, and went into the Mexico City finale as part of a three-way fight with Clark and BRM’S Graham Hill.

It appeared that leader Clark was on course to take the crown, only to retire in the final miles. Lorenzo Bandini, who had previously been involved in a controversial clash with Hill, then moved aside for team-mate Surtees on the final lap. When dropped scores were applied, the second place was enough for Surtees to defeat Hill by a single point.

He was unable to repeat his title in 1965, a campaign of unreliability not helped by Surtees missing the final two races after a heavy Can-am sportscar crash at Mosport. He departed Ferrari after two GPS in 1966 following disagreements with team manager Eugenio Dragoni.

Ferrari wins 5 Ferrari titles 0

After finding his position at Mclaren untenable amid the ensuing tug of war against Ayrton Senna, Prost shacked up with Ferrari for 1990 as Gerhard Berger went the other way. But this was more than a hasty retreat from an uncomfortable situation, because Ferrari’s rather pretty 641 was the best car it had produced in years. This ensured that the Frenchman could once again fight for the title, but without the intra-team politicking that had dogged his final term at Mclaren.

Prost picked up his first win in red at the Brazilian GP, and took four more as he exerted his dominance at the team over Nigel Mansell. But the Prost-senna machinations once again came to a head at Suzuka; Senna was nine points clear of Prost at the top of the standings, and retaining that gap would effectively cement the title in the Brazilian’s favour. And, per the late Murray

Walker, it happened immediately; Senna left his car down the inside of Turn 1 after a slower getaway from pole, and the two collided.

Prost enjoyed no more success at Ferrari, with 1991 proving to be a turgid year. The 642

– a development of the 641 – was becoming outdated, and the subsequent 643 was flawed. Prost had greatly disliked the 642’s handling and asked for improvements to the follow-up; that it was barely improved on the 643 produced discord between Prost and the Ferrari management. Prost’s public criticism of the team led to him being fired before the 1991 season finale.

Ferrari wins Ferrari titles

After becoming frustrated at Mclaren, Raikkonen defected to Ferrari in place of Michael Schumacher. A win at the first time of asking emerged in Australia, followed by two podiums, but the Finn’s momentum seemed to desert him when the calendar moved into Europe. Instead, the warring Mclarens had the upper hand; Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso went head to head at the front, while Raikkonen found himself outpaced by team-mate Felipe Massa.

Magny-cours was the turning point; more comfort with the F2007 car and a stronger pit strategy gave Raikkonen the win over Massa, and this was followed by a further success at Silverstone. Raikkonen clawed back the gap to the Mclaren duo. Alonso’s crash at Fuji and Hamilton’s pitlane slip in China brought Raikkonen back into play for the Brazil finale, which he won to beat the

Mclaren drivers by a single point. His title defence in 2008 took a back seat when Massa assumed the mantle of lead driver, while 2009 yielded just one win as Ferrari misjudged the new aero regulations.

Raikkonen was paid off by Ferrari, which wished to bring Alonso in, but the Finn returned after a two-year hiatus from F1 and two seasons with Lotus. His 2014 campaign was poor and he never got on with the F14T, but he became a dependable wingman to Sebastian Vettel in their four years as team-mates. Raikkonen managed just one win in his second Ferrari spell, before moving to Alfa Romeo while Charles Leclerc went the other way.

Ferrari wins Ferrari titles

Once Vettel’s domination of the early 2010s had come to an end with the rise of Mercedes and his own struggles with Red Bull’s flawed first car of the turbo-hybrid era, he followed in the footsteps of his hero Michael Schumacher with a move to Ferrari.

Ferrari had not enjoyed a particularly bright start to the switch to hybridised V6 powertrains either, but improved for 2015. Vettel finished third in his first race for the team and followed that up with a win in Malaysia, but the Maranello squad could not break Mercedes’ grip beyond Vettel’s three wins that season. Ferrari then endured a winless 2016 as Red Bull found form, but was a much stronger force the following season.

Amid a consistently strong opening to 2017, Vettel led the championship after the opening half of the year, but the post-summer improvements made at Mercedes swung the championship in

Lewis Hamilton’s favour. The Briton chalked up three wins on the bounce in Belgium, Italy and Singapore, and slowly began to extend a gap that Vettel could not close.

Although the German held the championship lead in 2018 after the first 10 races, his infamous unforced shunt at Hockenheim’s Sachskurve gave Hamilton the upper hand once more. The arrival of Charles Leclerc at Ferrari overshadowed Vettel in 2019, and the neutering of the team’s powertrain ahead of 2020 led to a dismal final year. With

Carlos Sainz signed for 2021, Vettel found refuge at Aston Martin for two years before retiring.