You say Ferrari and you think of victory. An instant connection, even justified, because history speaks for itself, and Ferrari is the history of Formula 1. However, tradition has not always translated into successes, and indeed the very long presence in the sport (Ferrari is the only team to have taken part in all the championships, from 1950 to today) has resulted in many victories but just as many defeats, as pointed out by Valerio Barretta in a recent article for formulapassion.it.
The Scuderia from Maranello is the team that has won the most Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championships, and is the only one to be in double figures in both (15 Drivers’ titles, 16 Constructors’ titles), but this consistency at the top means that in the next few years it will have to reverse a negative statistic. Reading between the numbers in the drivers’ standings, Ferrari has in fact finished second more times (compared to another team) than first. More precisely, at the end of the year, a Ferrari driver finished in second place 19 times, defeated by a colleague from a rival team.
The unfortunate trend began in 1951, when Alberto Ascari lost to Juan Manuel Fangio (Alfa Romeo) by six points. In the 1950s there were also the defeats of José Froilán González (1954, against Fangio) and Tony Brooks (1959, against Jack Brabham’s Cooper). Then the era of British domination began, with the help of Ford engines, and Ferrari returned to its competitiveness in the second half of 1970 with second place from Jacky Ickx (Jochen Rindt had however put the World Championship on hold before his tragic death at Monza).
The Italian side raised its head against the Ford motorized cars and in 1974 Clay Regazzoni finished second behind Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren). 1975 marked the return to success 11 years after John Surtees: Niki Lauda dominated the World Championship and would in all probability have repeated it the following year, without the near-fatal accident at the Nürburgring which forced him into a desperate comeback against James Hunt, then vanished in Fuji’s cloudburst.
Ferrari also won the 1977 and 1979 titles, and few would have bet that Jody Scheckter’s would be the last for two decades. In between, the Scuderia came close to the title first with Didier Pironi in 1982 (again, due to an accident, this time at Hockenheim, which favored Keke Rosberg’s title) and then with Alain Prost in the 1990 battle against Ayrton Senna. Michele Alboreto was also classified second (1985), but at a much higher distance from the Professor.
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After very difficult years, Ferrari changed gears thanks to the arrival of Jean Todt and, subsequently, Michael Schumacher and Ross Brawn. The Maranello team surrendered for two consecutive years in Suzuka to the McLaren of Mika Hakkinen and Adrian Newey, first with Michael Schumacher and then with Eddie Irvine. Schumi himself gave a show at Interlagos in 2006 to try and surprise Fernando Alonso, but the failure of the engine at Suzuka made that attempt romantic madness.
That Interlagos track which instead gave an incredible title to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 – the last one for Ferrari. However, just one years, Interlagos turned its back on Ferrari when Felipe Massa was defeated in the last corner of the World Championship by Lewis Hamilton.
The most difficult moment to accept remains, however, Abu Dhabi 2010, with Fernando Alonso being penalized by strategy and handing a title that seemed already won into the hands of Sebastian Vettel. Same story in 2012, with the German who managed to come back after the accident at the start and beat the Spaniard again, who also surrendered in 2013 in a championship however dominated by Red Bull. Not even Seb managed to break the Ferrari curse, finishing second behind Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes (2017, 2018). The last second place, in chronological order, is that of Charles Leclerc: a result obtained in the last race with great tire management against Sergio Perez.
And the second places could have been even more: in 1966, for example, John Surtees finished second but drove the Ferrari just for two races (winning at Spa); in 1997, however, Michael Schumacher lost the World Championship in the last GP due to the famous crash with Jacques Villeneuve. In that championship, the Kaiser finished second, but was technically disqualified from the championship and finished unranked.
In any case, even the second place proves that Ferrari has been competitive for victory for many years. It has taken one of the first two places in the drivers’ championship in 34 out of 73 seasons, and counting the cases of Surtees and Schumacher, the Maranello team arrives at 36 out of 73: practically in one year out of two a Ferrari driver fought for the title or in any case finished in the top two positions in the World Cup. Considering how Formula 1 is cyclical and the way hierarchies can change even for historic teams (just consider the level of McLaren in recent years or, even worse, that of Williams), this is a result of enormous importance. Just as amazing are the results of Red Bull and Mercedes, who have been in Formula 1 for much less years and have shared the championships since 2010. Yet, negative cycles will come for them too.
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