The 1997 Ferrari F1 was very competitive and Schumacher was close to glory, although in the last race of the season he tried to get the championship pointer, Villeneuve, who took the blow and kept on track. Schumacher was second in the championship but was disqualified by antisports.
The following two seasons were under the control of McLaren Mercedes, although in 1999 Schumacher ruined his own chances of success by injuring himself in an accident caused by a maneuver that reflected his immaturity.
The year 2000 season finally saw Ferrari regain elusive glory. The monoposto designed by experienced Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne, called F2000, proved unbeatable. This 600 kg car (including the driver) equipped a 90º V10 90º aluminum engine with a power of over 770 hp.
Ferrari scored 10 wins and 10 pole in standings. Michael Schumacher was a well-deserved Champion, winning 9 Grand Prix. Rubens Barrichello won a race, securing the Builders Cup for Ferrari.
Ferrari optimized both the engine and aerodynamic characteristics. The renovated F2001 gained a lot in mechanical reliability, which earned it its stay in the 2002 season for three races, until ensuring that the next model retained this feature.
Statistics from 2001 reflect the continuity of the Ferraridomain. Schumacher triumphed 9 times and nearly doubled the score of the second (Coulthard), crowned again World Champion. In turn, the Ferrari team won the Constructors' Cup by immense margin of advantage over their direct rival McLaren Mercedes.
Ferrari used the F2001 model during the first three races of the year, winning two, until the F2002development was completed. The Ferrari F2002 debuted at the Imola Grand Prix in 2002 with a strong victory.
Michael Schumacher was Champion for the third consecutive year with 144 points, while Barrichello was second with 77 units. In total, Schumacher won 11 races and the Brazilian Barrichello 4. Finally, Ferrari finished a dream season, achieving 15 victories (13 with the F2002) and winning the Constructors' Cup by a crushing margin. Ferrari scored 221 points against Williams' 92.
The F2002 car ran the start of the 2003 season until it was replaced by the successor: the F2003GA.
In 2003 Ferrari dominance was threatened by the improvement of McLaren and Williams, who played the championship until the last resort. The new Ferrari designed by Rory Byrne was named F2003GA in tribute to FIAT leader Giovanni Agnelli, who died a few days before the presentation of the new monoposto.
Finally, the Ferrari F2003GA debuted with a win in the fifth race of 2003: the Spanish Grand Prix. While the car was highly competitive, it was no longer unbeatable. The Williams team won four races and McLaren two more races.
The championship was defined in its final in favour of Schumacher, who won over Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren) by just 2 points. Even so, Ferrari surpassed the rest with 8 races won, 6 for Schumacher and 2 for Barrichello. The Constructors Cup was left for Ferrari but with little margin on Williams.
One detail to highlight is the weight and size reduction in the F2004. Another shift included the full manual drive of the titanium gearbox by a regulatory decision of the category. The engine was also adapted to the new regulation, which required the use of a single engine per competition weekend. So, it turned out to be much more reliable.
The balance of the year 2004 allows Ferrari to be seen at the peak of its hegemony. That year the Italian team won 15 races out of a total of 18, being 13 of the victories for Michael Schumacher who obtained his seventh F1 World Championship, a record record.
Ferrari won the Constructors' Cup demonstrating a superiority rarely seen in the history of the category adding more than twice the points of the second builder (Bar-Honda).
In 2005 the Italian house introduced the new Ferrari F2005 designed by Aldo Costa. It incorporated the same V10 engine from the previous season, although updated, and mounted on the F2004M chassis. The main changes were in the engine anchors and gearbox. The engine would now be subject to a higher requirement, as the regulation ruled that the same engine should be used for two consecutive races.
Ferrari struggled to achieve the necessary reliability and was relegated to third place in the 2005 Constructors Cup, behind Renault and McLaren. Schumacher won a single race (USA) under unusual conditions, as all the top teams in a political maneuver decided not to participate. Ferrari only competed against mediocre teams like Jordan and Minardi.
In 2006 Ferrari improved by introducing the new 248 F1model, equipped with the new aluminum V8 engines and 2.398 cm3 engine displacement. Drivers Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa won 7 and 2 races respectively, but were not enough to beat two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Renault.
Schumacher was runner-up and retired from the F1 with 7 championships to his credit, 5 achieved with Ferrari. His records of victories, poles, points scored and lap records seem to mark numbers impossible to beat...
© Adrián Blanco 2007 - No full or partial reproduction of text and/or images without explicit written consent of the author. —
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