Ranking Ferrari's 10 best Formula 1 races

Ferrari

Ferrari's top 10 Formula 1 races ahead of its 1,000th grand prix

The Scuderia's long and illustrious history broken down to their 10 best ever. Which ones make the cut?

Ian Parkes

Wednesday 13 January 2021 11:43 Updated: 00:12

5. 1981 Spanish Grand Prix

Gilles Villeneuve’s final victory in F1 is often regarded as his greatest drive in the sport, and for good reason.

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A favourite of Enzo Ferrari, who referred to him as the ‘piccolo Canadese’ - the little Canadian - Villeneuve was frustrated with Ferrari’s 1981 challenger, the 126CK.

A car that had “a quarter of the downforce Williams or Brabham had” according to Harvey Postlethwaite, Villeneuve still wrestled his way into the lead at the Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama that year.

Using the Ferrari’s superior straight-line speed to create enough of a margin, Villeneuve expertly held off Jacques Laffite as a train was starting to form behind him.

Villeneuve took the chequered flag in the second-closest finish in F1 history, with the gap between himself and fifth-placed Elio de Angelis a mere 1.24secs. His expert car placement in front of the much quicker Laffite and John Watson is still viewed as a defensive masterclass.

4. 2000 Japanese Grand Prix

A multiple championship-winning German was brought to Ferrari to bring the glory days back to the Scuderia [ring any bells?] in 1996. Four years later, its drivers’ championship drought had stretched to two decades.

Schumacher went into the race at Suzuka knowing he could seal the title with a win, and he struck the first blow by claiming pole.

Hakkinen, though, made a flying starts and claimed the race lead, streaking clear by a second a lap until rain started to fall.

While the Finn blinked first, Schumacher stayed out in the tricky conditions and did enough to make the overcut work, emerging from the pitlane several seconds ahead before coolly driving the F1-2000 to victory and become the team's first champion since Jody Sheckter in 1979.

3. 1996 Spanish Grand Prix

It was in this year that Ferrari secured the services of two-time reigning champion Schumacher from Benetton, as well as technical director Ross Brawn and designer Rory Byrne, with the team in desperate need of success after winning just two races in the previous five years.

The 1996 challenger, the F310, however, was not good enough to push for the title that season, underlined by the fact that for the Spanish Grand Prix, Schumacher qualified almost a second off the pace in the dry.

On Sunday, the heavens opened up in Barcelona and Schumacher put in one of the most impressive wet-weather drives of all time.

With a clutch issue at the start, he tumbled down the order, but he then proceeded to pick off his rivals one by one, at times lapping two seconds per lap quicker than his rivals.

At the finish line, he was 45 seconds clear and had lapped all but two cars in the process, earning himself the nickname ‘Regenmeister’ - rain master - with his truly spectacular drive at the Circuit de Catalunya.

2. 1988 Italian Grand Prix

1988 was a dark year for Ferrari and Formula 1 as one of its pioneers, Enzo Ferrari, passed away in August.

In a season being dominated by McLaren and the legendary MP4/4 driven by Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, the Italian Grand Prix came less than a month after Ferrari’s passing.

McLaren, who had won all 11 races in the campaign up until that point, predictably locked out the front row with Senna on pole.

In the race, Prost’s Honda engine began to misfire and the Frenchman had to retire from second – McLaren’s only mechanical retirement of the season. Then with two laps to go, Senna was taken out when lapping the Williams of Jean-Louis Schlesser.

Incredibly, Gerhard Berger found himself in the lead, going on to spearhead a Ferrari one-two with team-mate Michele Alboreto. It was the only race McLaren did not win in 1988.

The scenes after the chequered flag were incredibly emotional following Enzo’s death, and despite luck on their side that day, the win was one of the most emotional and powerful in Ferrari’s rich history.

1. 1979 Italian Grand Prix

What could possibly trump the emotional 1988 Monza one-two? Well, another, but this one sealed both championships for Ferrari on home soil.

Starting from third and fifth respectively, championship leader Jody Scheckter and team-mate Gilles Villeneuve had to fight through the field.

Running second and third, race leader Rene Arnoux suffered from engine problems, and Scheckter subsequently inherited the lead.

With Villeneuve serving as 'wing-man' and holding off the Williams of Clay Regazzoni, the two scarlet cars took a one-two at Monza to seal both titles and send the Tifosi into a frenzy.

Additionally, Ferrari achieved it with a 100% reliability record, truly remarkable in the ’70s. But it would prove to be Ferrari’s last title for two decades.