Heart Of A Racer
When Alfa Romeo announced its withdrawal from Grand Prix racing in 1933, Enzo Ferrari was there to pick up the pieces with Alfa’s dominant P3 single-seater, with Scuderia Ferrari promptly winning the Grand Prix of Pescara that year. They would go on to sweep the 1933 Mille Miglia, with Alfa Romeos taking the top 10 places, led by an 8C 2300 prepared by Ferrari.
Eventually, Alfa Romeo fired Enzo Ferrari due to his frequent disagreements with managing director Ugo Gobbato. Ferrari signed an agreement that stated he could not build a car under his own name for four years. Ferrari quickly formed a new company, Auto Avio Costruzioni (AAC) and hired his old Alfa engineering colleague Luigi Bazzi, with Federico Giberti, and engineers Vittorio Bellentani and Gioachino Colombo. Their dream was to produce a car recognisable as a “Ferrari” at a glance.
They took two Fiat 508 C 1100cc four-cylinder engines, reduced the bore and stroke, cast a new block and cylinder heads, and joined the two motors together. The result was an inline 1496cc 8-cylinder that produced 72 horsepower at 5500 rpm.
They dubbed the car the AAC 815 (8-cylinders,1.5-litres) and used a Fiat 508C chassis for the body. Two 815s were built and entered in 1940’s Gran Premio Brescia della Mille Miglia, a one-time substitute for the traditional Mille Miglia. Though fast, both retired with mechanical failures. The 815s were the last cars Ferrari would build for years. Italy officially entered World War II on June 10, 1940.
After the end of hostilities, Ferrari would complete his namesake Tipo 125 on May 8, 1947, with the help of laid-off Alfa engineer Gioachino Colombo, who was involved in a number of the marque’s most famous models.
By 1950, Ferrari was constructing a car every ten days to two weeks and chose to enter the new FIA Grand Prix championship’s second race, in Monaco on May 21, 1950. Since then, a Ferrari car has competed in every Formula 1 race.
Alfa Romeo drivers Nino Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio dominated the first championship, finishing 1-2 in the driver standings as Alfa won every race.
The Circle Remains Unbroken
The following year Ferrari was ready, handing Alfa, his onetime employer, its first postwar defeat at Silverstone in July. Even more of a surprise, the young Scuderia almost took the 1951 championship from Alfa, narrowly losing the title at the season’s last race in Spain. Perhaps recognising the ferocity of its new competition, Alfa then withdrew from Grand Prix competition.
Ferrari dominated Grand Prix racing in 1952 and ’53, losing only one race and easily winning the championships both years. The Scuderia has gone on to become Formula 1’s most successful team, with 16 Constructor’s Championships and 15 Driver’s Championships.
The new Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team represents the nearly 100-year reunion of two racing legends linked together by the vision of Enzo Ferrari. Together again, they have reformed and re-engineered their bond to create more significant competition where there was little, and a fresh start for a determined but beleaguered Sauber, just as a young Enzo Ferrari foresaw nearly a century ago.