Mugello will turn back the clock to one of Ferrari’s most successful periods when the inaugural Historic Grand Prix of Italy takes place from 2 to 4 October, with Michael Schumacher’s celebrated era at the centre of a weekend featuring around 100 historic Formula 1 cars.
The event, organised by HVM Racing and the Mugello Circuit in collaboration with Ferrari, will devote a major part of its programme to the Scuderia’s Golden Age between 1996 and 2006. Nine Formula 1 cars built in Maranello during that period, ranging from the F310 to the 248 F1, will form the heart of the Ferrari celebration.
Mugello historic Grand Prix puts Ferrari’s golden decade in the spotlight
The 1996-2006 period covers the transformation that took Ferrari from the beginning of Michael Schumacher’s project in Maranello to one of the most dominant spells in Formula 1 history. Across those ten years, the Italian team accumulated six Constructors’ Championships, 87 race victories and 203 podium finishes.
At the centre of that success was the combination of Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, Rory Byrne and Michael Schumacher. The German went on to secure five consecutive Drivers’ World Championships for Ferrari, establishing the era that the Mugello event will celebrate. One of its defining seasons was 2002, when Ferrari secured the Constructors’ Championship with a dominant Hungarian Grand Prix one-two.
The tribute follows another recent opportunity for fans to see machinery from that period back in action, with the Ferrari F2002 returning to the circuit at Monza as part of a Michael Schumacher tribute involving Sebastian Vettel.
Nine Ferrari Formula 1 cars will run on track
The Mugello celebration will go far beyond a static exhibition. The nine Ferrari single-seaters are due to take part in dedicated Golden Age 1996-2006 parades, giving spectators the opportunity to see cars from Schumacher’s Ferrari years running on the circuit again.
A substantial group of drivers with links to Maranello has already been confirmed. René Arnoux, Luca Badoer, Gerhard Berger, Andrea Bertolini, Giancarlo Fisichella, Antonio Giovinazzi, Eddie Irvine, Nicola Larini and Mika Salo are all scheduled to participate, with further names expected to be announced later.
Luca Badoer and Andrea Bertolini have particular links to the technical side of that successful period, having worked as Ferrari test drivers during some of the team’s strongest years. Their involvement adds another connection between the cars appearing at Mugello and the people who contributed directly to their development.
The Schumacher era was also shaped by important supporting roles within the driver line-up. Rubens Barrichello, for example, became a major part of Ferrari’s title-winning operation, with his contribution as Schumacher’s team-mate remaining an important element of Ferrari’s success during that period.
From V10 engines to Formula 1’s first 2.4-litre V8 era
The cars selected for Mugello also illustrate how dramatically Formula 1 technology changed over the decade being celebrated. The period began with 3.0-litre naturally aspirated V10 engines and concluded after the championship moved to 2.4-litre V8 power units.
Those seasons also encompassed the grooved-tyre era and increasingly sophisticated aerodynamic development, meaning the nine Ferraris will represent more than a collection of championship-winning machinery. Together, they chart a period of substantial technical evolution in the sport.
The F310 is especially significant as the car associated with the beginning of Schumacher’s Ferrari chapter in 1996. His arrival fundamentally reshaped the team’s driver line-up, with Jean Alesi previously recalling the circumstances surrounding his own departure when Schumacher joined Ferrari.
Around 100 historic Formula 1 cars among 250 machines at Mugello
Ferrari’s Golden Age will form only one part of a much larger historic motorsport programme. Approximately 250 cars are expected to take to the Mugello Circuit during the weekend, including roughly 100 Formula 1 single-seaters.
In total, 18 races will be divided across eight different grids, covering several generations of single-seater and endurance competition. The Historic Grand Prix Car Association will feature Formula 1 machinery constructed before 1966, while Masters Racing Legends will bring cars representing the period between 1966 and 1985.
BOSS GP will provide a more modern dimension to the programme, bringing together machinery from Formula 1, Formula 2, GP2, IndyCar and World Series competition. Among the cars already announced are the Toro Rosso STR1, Williams FW25, Benetton B197, Prost AP02 and Lotus T127.
Historic Formula 2 and Formula 3 cars will also appear, alongside Formula Ford and Formula Junior machinery. Masters Endurance Legends will add prototypes and GT cars to the schedule, with its race due to take place on Saturday evening.
Ferrari exhibition will include the final V12 F1 car
The celebration will continue away from the circuit itself. Ticket holders will be able to visit the Scuderia Ferrari – Golden Age: 1996-2006 exhibition in the paddock, where the nine cars featured in the main tribute will also be displayed.
A particularly significant addition will be the Ferrari 412 T2 from 1995. The car holds a distinctive place in Maranello history as Ferrari’s final V12-powered Formula 1 machine, extending the exhibition’s technical story to the season immediately before the beginning of the Schumacher era being celebrated.
Fans will also have opportunities to meet participating Ferrari drivers through organised meet-and-greet sessions and autograph events. Elsewhere, the fan zone is set to include Formula 1 simulators, a large screen showing the track action, exhibitors and catering facilities.
Additional experiences will be available for VIP ticket holders, including access to the Drivers’ Club, premium hospitality, grid walks and guided tours of the paddock.
Mugello brings several generations of Formula 1 history together
The first Historic Grand Prix of Italy at Mugello has therefore been designed to cover a much broader span of motorsport history than Ferrari’s Schumacher years alone. Cars from the earliest decades of Formula 1 will share the weekend with later Grand Prix machinery, junior single-seaters, prototypes and GT cars.
Even within that extensive programme, Ferrari’s 1996-2006 period will remain a central attraction. The combination of championship-winning cars, former drivers and technical figures gives the event a direct connection to an era in which the Scuderia achieved some of the most successful seasons in its history.
By putting those cars back on track rather than limiting them to museum displays, Mugello will allow supporters to experience both the sound and movement of machinery from a decade defined by major technical change and sustained Ferrari success. From the F310 that opened Schumacher’s first season in red to the 248 F1 that closed the ten-year period, the event will bring an important chapter of Maranello’s Formula 1 heritage back to life.
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