Ferrari

World Champion Constructors

For the second year in succession the Ferrari factory have won the Formula One Constructor’s Championship, though once again neither of their drivers won the Driver’s World Championship. Whereas drivers score points for themselves in each race, in the Constructors Championship it is the car which scores the points, and both cars of the team count in every race, so that a first and second place will score maximum points. Last year Ferrari won the Constructor’s Championship thanks to drivers Villeneuve, Pironi, Tambay and Andretti, yet Rosberg was the individual champion driving a Williams-Cosworth.

This year Arnoux and Tambay drove all the races for Ferrari and between them won the Constructor’s Championship, yet Piquet was champion in a Brabham-BMW. Such is the anomaly created by the current points system in both championships, but be that as it may, the important thing for a constructor is reliability and for both his cars to finish races. Last year the turbocharged Ferrari 1260 showed a remarkable standard of reliability, recording 18 finishes from 22 starts. This year the record was not ‘so good, with 20 finishes from 30 starts, but still better than most. However, the two drivers qualified for every race and started every event in the 15-race series, the 10 retirements being shared Arnoux four, Tambay six, each driver having an accident with another car, which caused their retirement, the rest being due to mechanical trouble, with Tambay having two major engine failures.

Unless mechanical problems plagued them in practice, such as Tambay at the French GP and Arno. at the Dutch GP, both drivers were invariably in the running for pole-position on the grid and between them scored eight pole positions, equally divided. Other than that they were invariably in the top six during qualifying, an elite little group shared by Renault, Brabham-BMW, Ma Romeo and Ferrari. They were first and second on the grid at Long Beach, Silverstone, Hockenheim, and Österreichring, while being first and third at Imola and Detroit, and first and fourth at Montreal and South Africa, with second and third at Monza so that one can say without qualms that the Ferrari cars and driven were the pace-setters of 1983.

The team had finished the 1982 season with a row of 126C2 cars, as detailed in Motor Sport for December 1982, with one complete and unused car, number 064, and another car, 065 being completed. However, new FISA rules were agreed by everyone in order to eliminate the 600 bhp go-karts that had developed as the result of the chase for the elusive “ground-effect” introduced by Jim Hall on his Can-Am Chaparral and perfected into Formula One by Colin Chapman and the Lotus 78. The end result had been cars with rock-hard springs with minimal suspension travel to maintain constant clearance between the aerodynamic under-side of the car and the ground surface. This would have been all right had the cars been guided by electronics and not by human beings, but as it was the drivers were beginning to suffer physically and the cars were proving immensely stable up to a point and then they became uncontrollable. So under-car aerodynamics were banned, at least between the front and rear wheels, and no side-skirts were permitted. As time was short most teams modified their 1982 cars to conform to the new rules and Ferrari did this with his 1982 C2 models to start the season, but a new C3 model was soon in the design stage on Dr Harvey Postlethwaite’s drawing board.

The last two cars in the Ferrari 1982 series were rebuilt to the new rules and were ready for the first race of the season, in Brazil, where Ferrari’s new driver Rene Arnoux made his debut for the Scuderia at the wheel of 126C2 / 064 and Patrick Tambay had 126C2 / 065, this being the first race for both cars. As spare cars 126C2 / 062 and 063 were also rebuilt to the new rules, the former being taken to Brazil. Much was expected of Rene Arnoux, who had left the Renault team to join Ferrari, but Tambay was faster in practice and finished ahead of him in the race, but neither car proved outstanding on their debut. They were heavier than most of the opposition and though the water radiators and intercoolers had been moved rearwards on the revised cars they lacked adhesion and the Goodyear tyres could not cope with the power output of the twin KKK turbocharged V6 engine, but at least they both finished their first race. At Long Beach for the USA Grand Prix (West) there was a huge improvement brought about by the use of a simply enormous rear aerofoil that had side pieces extending forwards on each side and held up by panels attached to the vertical fins on the side pods. Other teams looked at these huge rear “wings” and were horrified by the apparent aerodynamic drag they were causing, but when both cars proved to be very fast this horror changed to admiration as they estimated how much power the Ferrari engines must have been producing to overcome the drag so easily. The net result was greater adhesion for the rear tyres and Tambay made it clear that he was not going to be overshadowed by Arnoux who had joined the team supported by the thought that he would annihilate everyone with a Ferrari. Tambay took pole position on the grid and led the race with ease, but in order to conserve his tyres he eased up to the pace of his followers, keeping just ahead of them. This was all right until Rosberg had the crazy idea that he could take the lead, not appreciating how Tambay was running his race, and in a stupid manoeuvre he collided with the Ferrari, leaving Tambay stationary in the middle of the track, having been punted violently into a spin, with a bent front suspension and steering. Arnoux lacked the feel for his rather fragile Goodyear tyres and destroyed two sets, and was on his third set by the end of the race, finishing third.

The scene moved back to Europe, with the French GP on the flat and featureless Paul Ricard circuit, where the cars used the earlier smaller type of rear aerofoil in view of the long Mistral straight. The drivers were still using the same cars as in Brazil, naturally with new engines and rebuilt gearboxes, brakes, suspension units and so on, but Tambay’s practice was plagued with fuel system problems, turbo-charger problems and electrical problems, not only on his own car 126C2/065 but also on the spare car 126C2/062. In the end he had to use the spare car in the race and he finished a troubled fourth, while Arnoux was seventh. Tambay’s troubles were just “one of those weekends” during which no particular problem appeared twice, while Arnoux’s troubles were partly self-inflicted as he seemed incapable of assessing the limitations of his Goodyear tyres and driving accordingly. What Arnoux was proving adept at was being wound up tight and establishing a searing single lap during qualifying when aiming for pole position. He did this to perfection at the San Marino GP on the interesting and undulating Imola circuit. Brabham-BMW and Renault were giving the Ferrari team a hard time on their home circuit, which is only 55 miles from Maranello, but Arnoux pulled a lap out of the bag that stopped any further discussion. During the season the Ferrari team were to prove particularly adept at this procedure of winding everything up tight, including the driver, for one searing lap. It is not easy for not only do you have to have all the temperatures right, the boost pressure has to be right, the tyres have to be right, the suspension settings, -the shock-absorber settings, the brake balance, the fuel load, the aerodynamic adjustments all have to be right and all these variables have to be in tune with one another. The driver has to be in the right mood of aggression and the team controller has to pick the right moment to fire off his missile. You can always tell when the Scuderia Ferrari are about to make a “missile shot” as Arnoux sits in the car all ready to go, but the car is kept in the shade of the pit garage, while cold air blowers are fed into radiator ducts and onto the inter-coolers, while the engineer in control looks at his watch. At just the right moment the car is wheeled out onto the pits apron, the engine is fired up and away goes Arnoux on a single warm-up lap, then his “flyer” and then a slowing down lap. This procedure got him pole-position at Imola and later he did it to perfection at Silverstone to take pole-position for the British GP.

At the San Marino GP the cars were fitted with a new form of rear suspension, to save some weight and to improve the geometry of the rear wheel movement and thus improve the tyre adhesion. As designed originally the 126C2 had rocker-arm rear suspension operating inboard mounted coil spring / damper units, but the new system employed a very wide-base lower wishbone and similar upper one, with the spring unit, still mounted inboard, operated by a pull-rod working on a swinging link. The system had been tried out in practice for the non-championship event at Brands Hatch, known as the Race of Champions, as well as during private testing. It was an instant success and improved the rear end of the C2 enormously, so that together with the huge rear aerofoil there was not too much wrong with the car, but it was already obsolete by Maranello standards and the C3 model was eagerly awaited. Arnoux had gone to Brands Hatch with 126C2/063 with all the bits to change the rear suspension, but had raced with the old rocker-arm system, giving up in the event with dissatisfaction with the Goodyear tyres. While he indulged in this aside, Tambay was busy at the Ferrari test-track opposite the Maranello factory carrying out more serious testing.

The Monaco GP followed, on the circuit through the streets of Monte Carlo, and typical of the thoroughness of the Maranello racing department, four cars were taken to the Principality. A good grid position is essential on the tricky little Monopsque circuit and in practice it is all too easy to clip a kerb or a barrier and damage a car, so both drivers had a spare car in case of emergency, instead of the usual way of both sharing a single spare car. They were still racing the same cars they had started the season with, so Tambay had 065 and 063, while Arnoux had 064 and 062. After a pretty fierce qualifying battle with the Renault team Arnoux finished up second on the grid, with Tambay fourth, but the second place had been at the cost of a blown-up engine. The weather and tyres made a complete nonsense of the race, relative to the two days of practice and we might just have well turned up on Sunday morning and let everyone have 30 minutes practice and then draw starting positions from a hat. There was a slight rift in the Ferrari team as Tambay offered to start the race on “dry” tyres, even though the circuit was very wet, and gamble on it drying out, but the decision of the engineers was that both cars should start on “wet” tyres. As things turned out the weather cleared and the track dried, so that a pit stop was necessary for both Ferraris, whereas Rosberg’s Williams which had started on “dry” tryes romped away with victory. Early in the race Arnoux collided with another car and came off second best and limped into the pits for repairs. Unfortunately, while he was there Tambay indicated his desire to stop for a change to “dry” tyres, but Mauro Forghieri kept him out on the circuit while they worked on Arnoux’s car. It was a complete bungle, for Arnoux was right out of the running, whereas Tambay was still in with a chance, but having to do four more laps on “wet” tyres on the rapidly drying track lost him more ground than he could hope to make up. Arnoux’s car could not be repaired properly and he retired, while Tambay drove a smooth and fast race to finish fourth. But for those extra four laps on “wet” tyres he could have been in with a chance of victory, while had the team management accepted his offer to start the race on “dry” tyres and take a gamble on the weather, he would most certainly have been in the running for a win. Monaco was not a high point in the Scuderia’s 1983 season.

Moving on to the Belgian GP, held for the first time on the revised and rebuilt Spa-Francorchamps circuit in the hills of south-east Belgium, Amoux’s regular car 064 was still undergoing repair, so he had to use the earlier car 062, while Tambay was still in his regular 065 and 063 was the communal spare car. On this fast and exacting circuit the finesse and polish of Tambay’s driving came to the fore and he qualified second, whereas Arnoux’s rather rough and vigorous driving, bouncing over kerbs with complete abandon, netted him only fifth place. Once again the difference between the two drives was most marked in the race, for their Goodyear tyres were not really a match for the Michelins of the opposition, but while Tambay made the best of the situation by driving smoothly and watching for signs of overheating of the rubber, Arnoux pressed on regardless and his tyres very soon lost their efficiency. The team were doing routine pit stops for new tyres and more petrol, as were all the other top teams, and after his stop Arnoux’s engine failed, but Tambay went smoothly on to inherit second place when cars ahead of him ran into trouble.

By now the new C3 model was nearly ready to race, but as the next two events were in North America it was deemed wise sorely on the known C2 models for the races in Detroit and Montreal. Scratching round the right-angle turns of Motown suited Amount style and he took a comfortable pole position, while Tambay was a smooth and reserved third. At the start Arnoux was beaten off the line by Piquet’s Brabham, while poor Tambay stalled his engine. Due to mismanagement on the part of the race organisers the stricken Ferrari was towed off the course, well down the pit lane exit and beyond the reach of the Ferrari team, whereas it could have justifiably been push-started by track marshals. While Arnoux chased the leading Brabham with his regular car 064, a furious Tambay climbed out of 065 being forced to leave a fully race-worthy car by the track-side. Arnoux took the lead and maintained is after his routine pit stop, only to be sidelined by an electrical fault in the fuel injection system. Two retirements was a thoroughly uncharacteristic result for the Scuderia, but they made up for it the following weekend in Canada. Arnoux really came into his own on the fast and twisty Montreal circuit, making pole position, after dominating both qualifying sessions and in the race he could do no wrong and brought 126C2/064 home to an impressive victory. Tambay brought 126C2/065 home into third place, with fastest race lap as a bonus.

It was no secret that the new C3 Ferrari would be ready for both drivers for the next Grand Prix and here they were with first and third places in the Canadian GP, fastest race lap and pole position. The 126C2 Ferrari had certainly finished its career on an impressive note and it was very demoralising for the opposition when they realised that the Ferraris which had dominated in Canada were obsolete!

There was a considerable gap before the next Grand Prix and the time was usefully employed on the Fiorano test-track, principally with Tambay driving as his “feed-back” to the engineers was clear and concise, whereas Arnoux’s was blurred and confused by comparison. If it was merely fast lap times that you wanted then Arnoux could produce them to order, but he could not explain why; it was the same when he was in die Renault team and for a race-engineer he was bad news. The new Cl cars were ready for their first public appearance at the British GP at Silvei stone and to the untrained eye watching them pass at 150 mph they appeared to be little changed from the C2, but close inspection showed them to be entirely new and breaking new ground as far as the chassis was concerned. The C2 used a monocoque made up of sheets of aluminium honeycomb material, bonded together and cured in a huge oven, with a glass-fibre nosepiece and cockpit surround attached to the monocoque by quick-action fasteners The new car was a different approach altogether, from the agile brain of Dr Harvey Postlethwaite, and the monocoque tub was a single structure made from carbon-fibre composite material, the nose cone and cockpit surround being all part of the structure, as was the fuel cell behind the cockpit. The whole C3 structure was lighter and stiffer than that of the C2 and to this new chassis the well-proven suspension layout of the C2 was added, while the twin turbocharged V6 engine of 120 degrees was still the heart of the car, the turbo chargers still mounted on top of the engine, but angled rearwards to give a better airflow to the compressor intakes. Exhaust ports were still in the vee of the engine, the throe cylinders on the left feeding the right hand turbine and the three on the right feeding the left-hand turbo. Radiators and intercoolers were still in the side pods, but after initial testing with very rearward mountings for the coolers, the longer C2 side pods were adapted to the new monocoque. There were no radical changes to the suspension or the brakes, nor the gearbox and transmission, as all were well proven components.

These new cars continued the numbering sequence of the C2 series and the two C3 models that appeared at Silverstone were 126C3/066 (Arnoux) and 126C3/067 (Tambay), while their regular C2 cars were brought along as spare cars. However, the new C3 cars were soon into their stride and both drivers vied for pole position, Arnoux eventually taking the fastest time with a staggering single lap in 1 min 09.462 sec, an average of 151.9 mph. This was some debut for a new car and to rub salt into the wounds of the opposition the two cars which had won the previous Grand Prix and made fastest lap were now abandoned out behind the Silverstone pits as being of no further use! There were many small teams who eyed the obsolete C2 Ferraris with envious eyes, especially those who could not qualify for the starting grid with their Cosworth V8 powered cars. But Ferrari races for Ferrari and their obsolete C2 models were not for sale. In spite of impressive practice and qualifying performances on their Goodyear tyres, race performances with the American rubber was not really a match for the opposition on Michelin tyres. Silverstone was a relative debacle on race day for the decision had been made to use small rear aerofoils in view of the high average speed of the airfield circuit and that was the team’s undoing. Down-force on the rear wheels was insufficient to allow the drivers to use the full power of the engine and it was a question of playing things “cool” and making the best of a bad job. This Tambay did with all the sensitivity and delicacy of touch of which he was capable, and he nursed his new C3 Ferrari home into third place. Such delicacy seems to be beyond Arnoux and his tyres and speed suffered accordingly and he could only trail home a minute behind the winning Renault in fifth place. The race was considered to have been a disaster for the Scuderia, but first and second in qualifying and third and fifth in the race for a brand new chassis design was pretty impressive by any standards.

At the end of the race an official protest was made by Ken Tyrrell against the petrol being used by the Ferrari team. They were still using Agip petrol and were still using the water injection system perfected by the Italian petrol company last season and it was this that Tyrrell was objecting to. Although no details were forthcoming, either from Ferrari or Agip, it was admitted that the water injection system was under the control of the driver by means of a cockpit switch, its use being dependent on the boost pressure being used. A long and tedious legal battle ensued, with courts, tribunals and so on, but no conclusive results were arrived at, the reasons for the objections being unclear and based on assumptions rather than known facts, the claim being that the water injection was contravening the basic Formula One rules on petrol and additives.

From this point on the new C3 model took over completely, the same two cars competing in the German GP with the old C2 models as stand-by and once again they took first and second places on the starting grid, with Tambay in pole position. In the opening laps Arnoux illustrated his total disregard for team discipline as he forced his way past Tambay, who was setting a smooth pace, just ahead of the opposition, without straining the mechanism and most of all preserving his tyres for at nit time were the Goodyear tyres showing a superiority over Michelins. Ironically Tambay’s engine blew up while Arnoux powered on to victory, netting fastest race lap into the bargain.

The Ferrari C3 was proving to be as dominant as the C2 had been and the next race saw the team achieve its third successive domination of practice and qualifying, with Tambay once again on pole position, but in this Austrian GP he had another engine failure while taking things comparatively easily. It seemed that the Ferrari 126 engine thrived on being driven hard and if you gave it an easy time, keeping 1,000 rpm or more below its 11,500 rpm maximum it responded by breaking something in the valve gear. This is a phenomenon that has assailed racing engines in the past and is not uneasy one to analyse; when a driver throws caution to the winds and gives the engine hell, it stays in one piece and never misses a beat, yet when he pussy-foots with that same engine it blows up! Tomboy’s engine failures in Germany and Austria were typical of this phenomenon. Arnoux ran home a not very convincing second in the Austrian race and endeared himself to no-one by the way he deliberately blocked his team-mate as a back-marker was getting in the way, and took the lead in a manoeuvre that would have been brilliant if carried out against a driver from a rival team, but against his own team-mate it was not on. For the Austrian race a third C3 had been completed, number 126C3/068 and this was given to Arnow, while his original C3/066 became Tambay’s spare car and Arnoux himself had 126C2/065 as his spare car. This was a question of equitable sharing of the material until such time as there were enough new cars for all eventualities.

The Dutch GP followed and here Arnoux had the spare C3 while Tambay had the C2/065 but after a lot of engine and turbocharger trouble in practice, which saw him in tenth place on the grid, Arnoux opted to race 126C3/066, with which he had won the German GP. Thanks to the misfortune of others, notably Frost and Piquet crashing together while vying for the lead, Arnoux won th4 race and promptly fell in love with 066, which he described as his “lucky chassis”. In truth it was only the carbon-fibre composite monocoque of the original 126C3/066, for after each race the cars are rebuilt with new engines, new gearboxes, new suspension members, new brakes, and any sequence of aerofoils to suit the circuit. Tambay had been second on the starting grid in Holland, but once again muffed his start, though not as badly as in Detroit, and overheated his clutch. He nursed the car away and ran with the tail-enders until it cooled off and then motored in fine style, using everything the Ferrari engine could give and drove through to finish a rousing second behind Arnoux.

For the Italian GP on home ground at Monza a fourth C3 was completed, so that now the team had total equality, each driver having a pair of C3 cars for himself. Arnoux decided to stick with 066, his “lucky chassis” with 068 in reserve, while Tambay continued with 067 and had the latest car, 069 as his spare. This display of mechanical strength with four C3 models lined up caused some of the opposition to look despairingly at their own lack of first-line material or limited numbers of new cars, while the private-owner teams who were struggling to qualify for the race thought longingly of all those C2 Ferraris abandoned back at Maranello. The result of practice and qualifying was Tambay in second place and Arnoux in third place on the starting grid, a result that would have pleased most teams enormously, but not the Scuderia Ferrari. They had failed in their own Grand Prix, they should have been first and second on the grid; it was Riccardo Patrese and his Brabham-BMW that was ahead of them. Practice had not been without its dramatic moments for Saturday morning saw both first-line Ferraris being returned to the pits by breakdown vehicles! Tambay had a mild accident at one of the chicanes and Arnoux’s engine devoured a turbocharger, so both spare C3 cars were called into action. For the race Arnoux was back in his “lucky” 066, but Tambay retained his spare car, the brand new 069. It was a repeat of the British GP at Silverstone, the cars were very competitive on short-life qualifying tyres but the race-worthy Goodyears were no match for the cars on Michelins, especially Nelson Piquet in the Brabham-BMW who simply destroyed all the opposition. Arnoux finished second and Tambay was fourth, a reasonable result at anywhere other than Monza. It was total defeat in the Italian GP as far as the Ferrari team were concerned.

After one of the mechanics in the racing department asked Dottier Ingeniere Postlethwaite how it was possible that the Brabham-BMW could have beaten the Ferraris at Monza. Harvey suggested that the Brabham had a more powerful engine, to which the Italian mechanic replied “but our cars have Ferrari engines” and when Harvey insisted that the BMW was developing more power than the Ferrari engine he was looked at as though he had just announced that there really wasn’t a Father Christmas. For days afterwards this mechanic eyed his “Ingeniere” with suspicion and Harvey could read his thoughts — “that man said the BMW engine developed more power than our Ferrari engine.” Brake horsepower from the present generation of turbocharged 1½-litre engines is like “throttle lag”, it’s mostly in the mind. Those of us who were allowed to drive a Renault REM at the end of last season will tell you that as the tachometer needle reaches 8,500 rpm there is an instant explosion of power and the needle is reading 11,500 rpm and the rev-limiter cuts in. If a driver is suffering “throttle lag” then he is too low down in the rev-range and is not driving the engine on the tachometer, as you have to do with two-stroke racing motorcycle engines. A nominal horsepower figure for today’s engine must be around 650 when trying hard, with around 600 bhp for serious racing purposes.

From a position of dominance the fortunes of the Scuderia Ferrari suddenly plunged dramatically, so much so that it seemed that they might lose the Constructor’s Championship. For the last two races of the season nothing went right. At Brands Hatch they were fifth (Arnoux) and sixth (Tambay) on the grid and never figured among the leaders. Arnoux lost all chance of a good placing when he had a stupid spin, which dropped him way back, and after dispiritedly blaming his tyres he trailed home in ninth place. Tambay was doing his best to keep an honourable place but towards the end his rear brakes Wave trouble and he crashed mildly at Druid’s Hairpin. The last race was at Kyalami for the South African GP and it looked good with Tambay on pole-position and Arnoux in fourth place, but the overall atmosphere was not a happy one. Prior to leaving Europe Enzo Ferrari announced that Tambay’s services in the team would not be needed in 1984 and he was being replaced by Michele Alboreto. The young Italian had interested Enzo Ferrari for quite some time, his driving of the Tyrrell cars showing good style and speed, but he was contracted to Ken Tyrrell until the end of 1983. The dismissal of Patrick Tambay was no reflection on the Frenchman’s ability or work that he had done for the team, but someone had to go to make room for Alboreto. Behind the scenes at Maranello there had been some intrigue and manoeuvring going on in the best Machiavellian style as it suited various people to have an Italian driver in the team and Alboreto certainly offered the most potential. With Arnoux winning three races in 1983 to Tambay’s one, the choice was made, regardless of the wishes of the engineering side of the team. Mauro Forghieri and his engineers and mechanics were very sad at the decision to get rid of Tambay and chalked on the garage wall in the Kyalami paddock were the simple but telling words “Viva Patrick”.

This last race was a total disaster, for once again Goodyear race tyres could not match the Michelins and from his pole position Tambay was struggling to keep the Brabham-BMWs in sight. He eventually retired with a broken engine and Arnoux gave up the unequal smuggle when his engine began to overheat. What had been a very dominant season ended in total failure by any standards, but not irrevocable failure and the 126C3 can be considered to be one of the pace-makers for next year. The team’s record is tabulated at the end of this article, and noteworthy are the facts that both drivers qualified for every race, they finished two-thirds of them, won four, notched up eight pole positions and three fastest laps. Tambay had six retirements to Arnoux’s four, but every time he finished he was in the World Championship points list. Taken All round the two drivers were remarkably equal in their end of season summing up and Can unquestionably be considered as “equal number ones”, which has been a great part of the strength of the Ferrari team this year, especially compared to other teams who have a number one driver and a number two driver, or even two number two drivers. Significant is the fact that no Ferraris were destroyed this season, the elimination of ‘ground effect” making the cars much more Controllable and less liable to sudden accidents happening without warning.

Enzo Ferrari has never been known to Slump on engine design, always believing that the engine is the the heart of a racing car. Chassis, suspension, brakes, and Aerodynamics are necessary adjuncts to ‘enable full use of the engine to he made. Consequently there has never been a shortage of the turbocharged V6 Ferrari engines. From the moment the decision was made to abandon unsupercharged flat-12 cylinder 3-litre engines in favour of the 120 degree 1½-litre V6, engine production and development has never ceased. The big articulated racing transporter seems to carry a limitless supply of new engines at every race and a typical sequence of engine changes is given below, logged at one event.

At this race car number 27 had engine number 54 in it on race morning but it went wrong during the 30 min warm-up so engine number 74 was installed before the start of the race. The two spare cars, which were not used, had engines 45 and 62 in them. There were eight engines available at this meeting, numbers 45, 54, 62, 65, 66, 73, 74 and 75. Engine development is a continuous business, different things being tried out in practice and engines are built up to differing specifications, as instanced in Austria where some engines used Vandervell shell bearings for the big ends and others used Clevite shell bearings, their worth being evaluated back at Maranello afterwards when the engines were stripped for inspection.

Occasionally an engine that had performed well in a race would be used for the first day of practice at the next race, but this was the exception rather than the rule and after starting the season with engines in the number 40 to 50 range, by the end of the season they were into the 80 numbers. Although it was never admitted, there were times when it seemed certain that the team were using special engines for the qualifying sessions, tube sure of being at the front, the race engines being less highly developed, and estimates were made that these engines developed over 700 bhp. If you have a serious engine department in your factory, why not use it to the full, but to listen to some of the small minds in Formula One you would think such development work was illegal or immoral!

The performance of the few-cylinder BMW engine did not go unnoticed and work is already well advanced on a four-cylinder Ferrari engine, probably with two-stage turbocharging, just in case the V6looks like being beaten. It is possible that the characteristics of a four-cylinder engine might suit same circuits better than a V6 cylinder engine. Where engines are concerned Enzo Ferrari has never lagged behind and in his 84th year he doesn’t intend to start. — D.S. J.