When Lewis Hamilton transfers to Ferrari in 2025, he will end up being the 12th British motorist to have actually raced for the renowned Italian marque in Formula 1.
The lure of the Bounding Horse is one which motorists of any citizenship have actually discovered hard to neglect, not even if of the group’s history in the sport which extends all the method back to the extremely first season of the world champion in 1950.
Popularity, fortune, and the adulation of the Tifosi waits on any motorist who can scale the top of the mountain driving those well-known red automobiles – a difficulty which lots of have actually tried however just the best have actually been successful in.
A number of British motorists are amongst those who have actually composed their names in the history books with Ferrari, and we have a look at a few of his compatriots seven-time world champ Hamilton will be intending to replicate when he reaches Maranello …
Hawthorn and Collins: Accomplishment and disaster
Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins both starred for Ferrari
Although Peter Whitehead raced for Ferrari in 1950, the story of the Brits at Ferrari in F1 actually starts with Mike Hawthorn and Peter Collins – the team-mates who end up being buddies however whose stories both had terrible endings.
Hawthorn, something of an epic character who would use a bow tie while racing, at first drove for Ferrari from 1953 to 1955 – conserve for 2 races for Vanwall at the start of the last of those seasons – when he scored 2 Grand Prix wins and 3 other podium surfaces.
He returned in 1957 after a not successful season away and right away struck up a relationship with Collins, generated the previous year, to the level that the set consented to divide all prizemoney similarly. Hawthorn would likewise later on threaten to give up Ferrari if the group fired his compatriot following an occurrence at the 1958 Le Mans 24 hr.
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Damon Hill and Natalie Pinkham dispute whether Lewis Hamilton’s relocate to Ferrari is the greatest in history on a scandal sheet of the F1 Program.
Had it not been for selflessly turning over his vehicle to group leader Juan Handbook Fangio at the 1956 Italian Grand Prix, Collins would have most likely ended up being Britain’s very first F1 world champ Nevertheless, his profession was unfortunately interrupted at the age of 26, passing away following a mishap at the 1958 German Grand Prix.
Hawthorn would rather go on to end up being the very first British F1 motorists’ champ that season and, at the time, the sport’s youngest world champ, however retired right away still reeling from the death of his buddy. Regretfully, he too would be eliminated in a roadway mishap in January the list below year.
Brooks’ season in the sun
Tony Brooks’ one season with Ferrari almost saw him crowned world champ.
Tony Brooks had simply one season racing for Ferrari, however it was a year which saw him come closer to winning the world champion than at any other point throughout his Formula 1 profession.
Nicknamed ‘The Racing Dental expert’ due to having actually integrated the early phases of his profession with studying to follow his dad into dentistry, Brooks signed up with the Italian group for the 1959 season after Vanwall, where he had actually scored 4 Grand Prix wins, withdrew as a full-time F1 entrant.
A 2nd location at the season-opening Monaco Grand Prix was followed by success in France and Germany, plus a 3rd in the United States Grand Prix. However retirements in the Netherlands, Italy and Britain – the latter driving in a Vanwall after strikes caught Ferrari in Italy – and a ninth location in Germany showed pricey.
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Martin Brundle thinks Lewis Hamilton signing up with Ferrari is a terrific chance for both group and motorist to reset.
Brooks would ultimately complete the season 2nd and 4 points behind ultimate champ Jack Brabham however would never ever come close to winning the motorists’ title once again and retired after a frustrating 1961 project.
Together with his previous Vanwall team-mate Stirling Moss, he is considered as among the very best motorists never ever to win the world champion.
Surtees: An icon on 2 and 4 wheels
John Surtees was a world champ on motorcycles and in automobiles
John Surtees was currently a several Grand Prix motorbike champ when he started his Formula 1 profession in 1960, and to this day stays the only individual to have actually won the world title in the premier classes on 2 wheels and 4.
Offered his successes on bikes featured the Italian MV Augusta marque, it was maybe unavoidable he would wind up driving for Ferrari in F1 and he made the relocate to the group for the 1963 season after some outstanding provings for ex-driver Reg Parnell’s privateer group in the previous 2 years.
That very first year yielded a sole Grand Prix win and 2 additional podiums, however a strong 2nd half to the 1964 season that included success in Germany and Ferrari’s home race at Monza saw Surtees reach the last race of the season in a three-way defend the title.
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Following the news Lewis Hamilton is transferring to Ferrari in 2025, relive a few of his previous discuss possibly signing up with the group.
All sorts of permutations might have caused either Surtees, ruling champ Jim Clark or Graham Hill being crowned champ at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, however a second-place surface for the Ferrari motorist with an oil-line failure seeing Clark come 5th and exhaust issues triggering Hill to complete 2 laps down and out of the points saw him take the title.
He would never ever delight in that level of success once again however and give up Ferrari early in the 1966 season after his relationship with the group had actually soured, signing up with Cooper then Honda and BRM followed by establishing his own group and ultimately retiring from racing in 1972.
Mansell: ‘Il Leone’
Nigel Mansell won the affection of Ferrari’s fans
Nigel Mansell had the honour of being the last motorist to be carefully picked by Enzo Ferrari to race for the group prior to the veteran owner’s death in 1988, however his 2 seasons with the Maranello team were a mix of low and high.
He right away endeared himself to the Tifosi by ending up being the very first Ferrari motorist to win on his launching considering that Mario Andretti 18 years previously with his accomplishment in the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix and made the label ‘Il Leone’ – The Lion – thanks to his brave method to racing.
Another triumph in Hungary and 4 other podium locations assisted protect a fourth-place surface in the motorists’ champion, however dependability concerns due to the brand-new semi-automatic transmission and disqualifications in Canada and Portugal, the latter of which caused a restriction from the Spanish Grand Prix, spoiled the season.
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Sky F1’s Martin Brundle thinks Lewis Hamilton may have ended up being disappointed at Mercedes and might be looking for a brand-new difficulty at Ferrari
Mansell’s 2nd year saw him encounter brand-new team-mate and triple world champ Alain Prost, and in one infamous occurrence at that year’s British Grand Prix learnt the mechanics had actually switched their automobiles without his understanding after Prost felt he had the inferior device of the 2.
A race win in Portugal and 4 other podium surfaces did little to stop Mansell’s disappointments and he revealed his objective to retire at the end of the year. That did not last long, nevertheless, and he quickly rejoined Williams where he was crowned world champ in 1992.
Quick Eddie: Irvine’s important function
Eddie Irvine invested 4 seasons with Ferrari.
Eddie Irvine brought in lots of attention for his on and off-track shenanigans, however that frequently eclipsed the mercurial Northern Irishman’s driving capability, and he played an essential assistance function to Michael Schumacher throughout their 4 seasons together at Ferrari.
Having actually been purchased out of his Jordan agreement in 1995, his very first race for the group the list below year in Australia yielded a very first F1 podium surface, however the remainder of the year showed less rewarding. 5 more podiums followed in 1997 and he was a routine top-three finisher in 1998 as he completed 4th in the champion.
The 1999 project saw Irvine fighting for leading honours though. Having actually declared his very first Grand Prix win at the season-opener in Melbourne, Irvine discovered himself leading Ferrari’s title charge after Schumacher broke his leg in an opening-lap mishap at Silverstone.
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Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz, Damon Hill and Karun Chandhok have their state on the significant news that Lewis Hamilton will sign up with Ferrari in 2025.
Back-to-back wins in Austria and Germany rose him to the top of the motorists’ standings by the start of August, yet he would be rejected in the last race of the year in Japan where a third-place surface saw him end the season 2 points behind champ Mika Hakkinen.
Looking For a No 1 motorist function, Irvine left Ferrari for an unfortunate 3 years with Jaguar and called time on his F1 profession at the end of the 2002 season. Prior to Hamilton’s finalizing, he was the last Briton to race for Ferrari.
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