The oldest team in F1

Scuderia Ferrari is the oldest active Formula One team, which has competed every year since the Formula One World Championship began in 1950.

This year marks 69 years of Ferrari in F1.

It’s also Ferrari’s 90th birthday.

The most successful team in F1

Granted they have had a few more years than most teams to set their name in stone, but that only gives testament to their longevity.

More than 170 different teams that have entered F1 since 1950, including Aston Martin, BMW, Honda, Toyota, Jaguar, Lamborghini and others which have come and gone.  

Ferrari won a staggering five Drivers’ Championships back-to-back from 2000 to 2004, with driver Michael Schumacher.

They held the record for the most consecutive wins by a team until last year, when Mercedes won the championship, making them the only other team to cement five championships in a row.

Ferrari has won a total of 16 Constructors’ Championships, 15 Drivers’ Championships and 235 race victories.

Now that’s a lot of champagne to be popping.  

Only one Italian driver has won a Championship for Ferrari

There have been 98 Italian drivers in the history of F1.

The first and only Italian driver to win a Drivers’ Championship for Ferrari was Alberto Ascari, who won back-to-back in 1952 and 1953 for the team.

Only one other Italian driver has won the Championship in F1: Giuseppe Farina, who won in 1950 for Alfa Romeo.

Ferrari has a massive budget

Ferrari doesn’t like to give too much away.

From the tyre selection of their racing cars, to their finances, which are generally held behind closed garage doors.

But in 2015, Ferrari was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, meaning their expenditure became a little more exposed.

Let us remember that Ferrari’s F1 team is not incorporated, so their reports are for the company as a unit, making it a little tricky to know exactly how much the team is spending.

However, according to German magazine Auto Bild, the approximate budget for Ferrari in 2018 was €430 million.

It’s a budget which is only second to Mercedes, whose budget was estimated at €450 million.

At a fair stretch behind was Red Bull, with an approximate €350 million, while McLaren and all other teams estimated at approximately €250 million and below.

In the F1 mentality, profit is not the benchmark of success, victory on the track is.

Teams are happy to spend all of their income, even more than they make in revenue, to win.

In the end, this pays off in terms of sponsorship, with brands wanting to collaborate with winners.

It’s an interesting mindset which prioritises winning – even if it means being in financial debt – over making a profit and losing.

Ferrari is absent from Netflix series Formula One: Drive to Survive

Last week, Netflix dropped their new series, Formula One: Drive to Survive.

It was created by the same man who made Senna, the documentary that focused on former F1 Champion, Ayrton Senna.

Two out of eight F1 teams are not present in Formula One: Drive to Survive – Ferrari and Mercedes.

The 10-part series begins at the Barcelona testing, with Ferrari and Mercedes opting out of the show, which documents the 2018 F1 season.

Former Ferrari team principal, Maurizio Arrivabene, has been known to keep his cards close to his chest, so it came as no surprise that he wouldn’t allow a camera crew into the Ferrari garages.

Mercedes claimed it would distract them from focusing on the championship.

The show gives a captivating glimpse into the world of F1, as cameras roam through the paddocks and into the garages.

Spectator meets driver, as we piggyback off Daniel Ricciardo who leads us from racing seat to team meetings.

The Formula One: Drive to Survive team are currently negotiating a second season and F1’s head of motorsport Ross Brawn wants all teams to be involved in the future series.

“This sport is able to grow, and it will grow quicker if all the teams are part of that process, there's no doubt,” Brawn said.

Although the second series has not been confirmed, cameras were rolling at the 2019 Barcelona testing and will be present this weekend at the Australian Formula One season opening.

In the first season, Ferrari eventually relented and gave limited access toward the end of the season.

With a new team principal at Ferrari, there is hope that if the series does get a second run, Ferrari will be more active within it.

Catch the first race of the Formula One season this Sunday, March 17, at 4:10 pm (AEST).