Get to know the Scuderia Ferrari F1 team, including drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz and team principal Mattia Binotto.
Scuderia Ferrari has been a staple of motor racing for nearly 100 years, starting up more than two decades before the very first Formula 1 season. Its iconic red hue has endured through the sport’s highs and lows, producing a record 16 F1 Constructor’s Championships and 15 Driver’s Championships.
The Prancing Horse unfortunately hasn’t captured either title since 2008, a drought not seen since the 1980s and ’90s. Last year saw Ferrari move up to No. 3 in the F1 Constructors’ Championship after finishing an unthinkable sixth in 2020.
There could finally be, however, a light at the end of the tunnel. Led by the 24-year-old, Monaco-born Charles Leclerc and 27-year-old Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari finished 1-2 in the 2022 season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix — and it doesn’t feel at all like the team’s early success is a fluke. Could we have a three-horse race for both the world championship and the Constructors crown among Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull this year and beyond?
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Team Principal Mattia Binotto plucked Leclerc for the 2019 season from now-defunct Sauber as a young counterpart to four-time champion Sebastian Vettel. The two clashed almost immediately, as famously documented in Season 2 of Netflix docuseries Drive To Survive, and Binotto elected not to extend Vettel’s contract beyond the 2020 season. He was replaced by Sainz, who’s now in his second campaign with the famous old Scuderia.
With engines officially firing in 2022, let’s get to know the Ferrari F1 team.
History of Scuderia Ferrari in Formula 1
Founded: 1929
Headquarters: Maranello, Italy
Owners: Public shareholders (67.09%), Exor NV (22.91%), Piero Ferrari (10%)
Key sponsors: Shell, Santander, Velas, Snapdragon, Ray-Ban, AWS, Richard Mille, Ceva Logistics, Palantir, Puma, Radiobook, Vistajet, Georgio Armani, Mahle, Pirelli.
It all started with Enzo.
Enzo Ferrari, himself a race driver, started the Scuderia as an amateur outfit. It later became the racing division of Alfa Romeo, whose own team had fallen on hard times. Ferrari first began building their own cars in the 1940s, and took part in the inaugural season of Formula 1 in 1950. They’re the only team to compete in literally every F1 World Championship. Just for kicks, Ferrari’s cars can also boast nine 24 Hours of Le Mans titles and 13 World Sportscar Championship crowns.
They’re best known in the modern era as the racing home of all-time great Michael Schumacher for five of his joint-record seven F1 Driver’s Championships, as well as Kimi Räikkönen’s 2007 triumph — Ferrari’s most recent on the books.
This year, they’ve been shot out of a cannon, with Leclerc and Sainz setting the pace early under the leadership of Binotto, who first joined the Scuderia in 1995 as an automotive engineer.
They’re additionally well known for their fiercely loyal fan base, nicknamed the Tifosi, a global band of red-clad, flag-waving enthusiasts known to match or exceed the trademark fervor of soccer fandom.
2022 Ferrari F1 Drivers
Charles Leclerc
- No. 16 car
- 2017 Formula 2 champion
- Youngest-ever Scuderia Ferrari race winner
At just 24 years of age, Charles Leclerc is already a force to be reckoned with in motor racing. He has 14 podiums and 10 poles to his name as of this writing, including seven in 2019 alone — enough to earn him the Pirelli Pole Position Award, breaking a five-year Mercedes streak that included four straight claimed by Lewis Hamilton.
Carlos Sainz Jr.
- No. 55 car
- Finished career-best No. 5 in 2021 F1 Driver’s Championship standings
- Son of World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz Sr.
A former McLaren, Renault, and Toro Rosso driver, Carlos Sainz has formed an increasingly potent 1-2 punch with Leclerc. Coming off his best-ever finish in the World Championship and boasting a personal-best four F1 podiums in 2021, the 27-year-old has a critical role to play if Ferrari is to win its first Constructor’s crown since 2008.
Scuderia Ferrari’s F1 Championships & Milestones
Numbers reflect results through the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix. In each category, Ferrari ranks No. 1 in Formula 1 history to date.
Constructor’s Championships: 16 (1961, ’64, ’75, ’76, ’77, ’79, ’82, ’83, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’07, ’08)
Driver’s Championships: 15 (1952, ’53, ’56, ’58, ’61, ’64, ’75, ’77, ’79, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’07)
All-time Formula 1 wins: 238
F1 podiums: 775
F1 poles: 231
F1 fastest laps: 254
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