F1 ANALYST
FERRARI’S SPECIAL BRITISH CONNECTION
Ben Edwards on Ferrari at the British GP
Italian Anglophiles… The relationship between Ferrari and the United Kingdom has been special ever since the team’s first world championship race win at Silverstone in 1951. As the 70th anniversary of that magnificent José Froilán González victory over Alfa Romeo is celebrated this year, the Scuderia will be hoping to rekindle the association.
The 1950s was a golden decade for Ferrari in the UK with six wins at the British Grand Prix. The success and passion of the Italian team was adopted by many local fans, especially when Kidderminster’s Peter Collins won the race in 1958 and his Ferrari team-mate Mike Hawthorn went on to become the first British world champion.
John Surtees enhanced that connection when he became the second, and currently the last, British driver to win the title with Ferrari, but repeating the victories at Silverstone, Aintree or Brands Hatch proved difficult. A 15-year lull eventually ended in 1976 as Niki Lauda won at Brands after James Hunt was disqualified.
Despite our traditionally fickle summer weather, the race has only been won four times in over 70 attempts by a driver starting outside the top five on the grid. In 1978 Ferrari’s prospects looked particularly bleak as Lotus secured the front row at Brands while Ferrari’s Carlos Reutemann lined up eighth. Ronnie Peterson and Mario Andretti confirmed Lotus supremacy early on, but poor reliability destroyed their hopes and also affected the subsequent duel between Jody Scheckter and Alan Jones. Shortly afterwards, Riccardo Patrese lost second due to a puncture and the race became a battle between world champion Lauda in his Brabham and Reutemann in the Ferrari.
Overtaking at the Kent circuit is as tough as at the Hungaroring, but Reutemann took full advantage as Bruno Giacomelli was about to be lapped. Lauda committed himself one way just as Bruno moved in the same direction to try and give space. Reutemann went for the opposite, launching down the inside into Clearways and fending Lauda off to Paddock Hill Bend before taking a clear lead.
Victory that day from the lowest grid position to date for a winner of the British GP is hopefully a highlight that has stayed with Carlos, a man who has been going through some tough health issues recently. The team had to wait another 12 years before the next win came at Silverstone, by which time British influence within the organisation had grown in different ways.
Designer Harvey Postlethwaite signed up in 1981 and became responsible on the chassis side. His cars were competitive – Ferrari finished first or second in the constructors’ championship for the next four years – but a drivers’ title proved elusive. Runner up in 1985, Michele Alboreto was frustrated by a lack of engine power, and delays in building a new windtunnel didn’t help.
Impatient as ever, Enzo Ferrari decided to bring in another Brit: John Barnard. His design skills were utilised from Godalming, as he had no desire to move to Italy, but his influence was powerful and led to a competitive if unreliable car in 1989, the development of which went on to win the British GP in 1990 in the hands of Alain Prost. Sadly, by then Enzo had passed away and Barnard had fallen out with the reorganised management structure.
British influence was re-energised when returning boss Luca di Montezemolo employed both Postlethwaite and Barnard in separate areas for Ferrari in the early 1990s, before Jean Todt re-jigged the structure once more and gave Ross Brawn the technical lead. Under Brawn, Ferrari would go on to win at Silverstone four times in seven attempts. Kimi Räikkönen’s 2007 victory was in a car still descendant from that era. Since then things have been a little quieter, but Fernando Alonso’s 2011 success stands out as an unexpected result.
A change in regulations regarding blown diffusers boosted Ferrari’s hopes against that season’s dominant Red Bulls, another connection to the present day. Mark Webber managed to top the Red Bull front row, with Sebastian Vettel alongside, but Alonso was a close third. Vettel stole the advantage at the start from Webber, as damp conditions required intermediates but Alonso stayed in the frame and looked even stronger once everyone switched to slicks. It was during the second stops when it fell apart for Red Bull; Webber’s left-front wheel undid him, while Vettel’s car got stranded when the rear jack collapsed. Suddenly Alonso’s consistent pace put him at the head of the field. He ticked off the remaining laps in suitably accomplished style, winning comfortably and setting fastest lap along the way. It was Ferrari’s sole win of the year, but a reminder of that connection between Blighty and Maranello which Vettel himself consolidated in 2018 by claiming the team’s most recent Silverstone success.
Seventeen British GP wins to date; is it time to come of age with 18? Ferrari’s pace in slow corners may not be as useful at Silverstone, but sector two at Barcelona is a fast, flowing section where Charles Leclerc set the fourth fastest time in qualifying this season, a tenth behind Max Verstappen. Having achieved two podiums and a fourth in his three attempts in the UK with Ferrari, perhaps Leclerc can deliver a surprise victory and help the Scuderia celebrate its 70th anniversary in style.