2000

21 years after Jody Scheckter the Drivers’ World Title was back in Maranello, thanks to the competitiveness of the F1-2000. The single-seater had extremely well planned aerodynamics, its weight was much below the minimum set by the regulations, which helped to work on a perfect weight distribution by shifting the ballast, and the angle of the 10-cylinder engine changed from 80° to 90°. This architecture of the new engine set the standard for the years to come. Michael Schumacher, supported by a perfect team, gained 9 wins and won the season’s long battle against Hakkinen with McLaren: the German driver gained the Title at the penultimate race of the season, right on the track in Suzuka, where the previous two years the Scuderia had lost the Championship by a whisker. With 10 victories – one thanks to the new-entry Rubens Barrichello – and a total of 170 points, the Scuderia repeated the success from 1999. For the Scuderia this was the start of one of the most successful cycles in the history of Formula One.

2001

Michelin joined Bridgestone in Formula One as an official tyre supplier and the Federation gave green lights regarding the heavy use of on-board electronics at the Spanish GP, while the Scuderia confirmed itself as the team to be beaten. In Hungary, at the 13th race out of 17 on the race calendar, Michael Schumacher conquered the Drivers’ Title (the fourth of his career) and the Scuderia from the Prancing Horse, also thanks to the second place by Barrichello, confirmed itself Constructors’ World Champion. At the end of the season the Scuderia had 9 victories, 15 places on the podium, 3 one-two wins and 10 pole positions for a total of 179 points in the Constructors’ standings. The main player of this incredible season was the F2011: nicknamed the “anteater”, due to the shape of its nose, dropping to join the front wing, this single-seater was planned with the objective to lower the centre of gravity and reduce its weight. It sported a high chassis, with a concave lower section and relatively short and high sides.

Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello and Jean Todt on the podium at the Hungarian GP celebrating the two Titles conquered.

At the Italian GP, a few days after 11 September, Ferrari races in mouring: no sponsor logos and a black nose on the F2001.

2002

True and proper domination of Ferrari in the 2002 Formula One season: 15 victories in 17 races. 11 by Michael Schumacher – who already in July confirmed his Drivers’ World Title – and 4 by Rubens Barrichello. 10 pole positions, 9 one-two wins and at least one Scuderia driver on the podium in each of the 17 races on the calendar. Ferrari, the only top team still using Bridgestone tyres, confirmed itself as the Constructors’ Champion with 221 points, as many as the other 10 teams on the track this season together. A record year thanks to the extraordinary F2002: despite the dominance of the previous car – which was started in the season’s first three races – the 2002 single-seater was an entirely new project with smaller aerodynamic sides, a titanium-fusion gearbox, a different design and construction of the chassis, guarding exhausts, a new engine with a lower centre of gravity with 835 bhp at 17,800 rpm.

French GP: with six races to go Schumacher wins the World Title.

Barrichello (1st) and Schumacher (2nd) with a Ferrari one-two win at the Italian GP.

2003

In 2003 several modifications regarding the regulations came along: after the qualifyings the single-seaters had to sit in the parc fermé after the session used to set the starting grid. Furthermore a point system was introduced, awarding the first 8 in the classification. After the undoubted dominance of the Scuderia over the previous two years, the 2003 Championship saw a re-launched competition, also thanks to the rivalry between Bridgestone and Michelin: this led to 8 different winners in the 16 races on the calendar. In the end it was Michael Schumacher again, winning the World Title in the last race, held in Suzuka. The German driver set a new record and equalled the one with five World Titles of Juan Manuel Fangio, thus turning into the most successful driver in the history of Formula One . Thanks to the F2003 GA, where the initials were an homage to Gianni Agnelli, who had died in January 2003, the Scuderia gained the fifth Constructors’ Title in a row.

Japanese Grand Prix: Barrichello wins the race, Schumacher is eighth and the new World Champion.

Schumacher and the men from the Scuderia celebrating the World Title.

2004

The year 2002, the record season for Ferrari, went into a second act with the 2004 Championship: out of 18 GPs the Scuderia won 15 (13 Schumacher, 2 Barrichello), 8 one-two wins, 12 pole positions for a total of 262 points in the Constructors’ Championship. Already in August Ferrari archived the Championship files: at the Hungarian GP the Scuderia won the Constructors’ Title – the 14th in its history – with a one-two win, while Schumacher gained his fifth title in a row, the seventh of his career, in Belgium on the same track, where he debuted in the year 1991. The season made history also thanks to one of the most competitive single-seaters ever: the F2004, fitted with the new engine 053, a 10-cylinder with 865 bhp at 18,300 rpm, which exceeded all expectations in terms of performance and reliability also regarding the new challenge set by the regulations, which aimed at reducing the costs: one engine per race weekend, with an average lifespan of 800 instead of 350km.

With an unusual strategy of 4 pit stops Schumacher and Ferrari win the French GP.

Belgian GP: the 700th GP for Ferrari in Formula One. Schumacher wins the 7th title of his career. Ross Brawn, Jean Todt and the men from the Scuderia celebrate the German driver.

Rubens Barrichello and Luca di Montezemolo on the podium at the Chinese GP, won by the Brazilian driver.

2005

There was a heavy weight sitting on the F2005, planned by Aldo Costa, student and successor of Byrne, who staid with the Scuderia’s technical staff: the significant heritage of the victorious single-seater of the previous season. The new car was planned with the same philosophy as with the F2004 in mind, although conditioned by the new regulations with restrictions regarding the level of aerodynamics for a 25% lower downforce, tyres, which had to last for one entire GP and for the qualifying on Saturday (therefore the pit stops were only used to refill the tanks), the engine life was extended from one to two race weekends. In the end the season remained below the expectations with the F2005 – debuting with Schumacher at the Bahrain GP replacing the F2004 M. The single-seater couldn’t express its potential at the same level of competitiveness as the rivals on the track. The season ended with just one win, gained in Indianapolis at a GP with just six cars on the track, caused by a boycott of the teams running on Michelin tyres. Third place in the Constructors’ Championship, won by Renault, while Fernando Alonso, with Renault, gained the Drivers’ Title.

The only win of the season, in Indianapolis: Schumacher 1st, Barrichello 2nd, with the teams running on Michelin tyres not starting into the race for safety reasons.

2006

It was the year of the introduction of V8 engines with a capacity of 2.4 litres and the comeback of the possibility to change the tyres during the race. Ferrari made up for a weak 2005 season and again turned into one of the main protagonists, fighting against Renault for the World Title. It was a season with lots of polemics: Schumacher’s stop at the Rascasse corner in Monte Carlo during the qualifying, so his competitors couldn’t improve their lap times, or the discussion about the mass damper used by Renault and later on banned by the Federation. The seven victories by Schumacher and the three by new-entry Felipe Massa weren’t enough to stop Alonso and the Enstone team to gain their encore in the Championship. At the end of the season, with his retirement announced after the win in Monza, the Schumacher era in Maranello came to an end: in 180 GPs with Ferrari the German driver had won 72 races, gained 58 pole positions, drove 53 fastest race laps and won 5 Drivers’ and 6 Constructors’ Titles.

Turkish GP: Felipe Massa celebrating his first success in F1.

Michael Schumacher and Jean Todt on the podium at the Italian GP. After his 6th success in 2006 the German driver announces his retirement by the end of the season.

Schumacher during the Japanese GP, penultimate race of the Championship: an engine failure (the first since the French GP in 2000) puts an end to his race. Alonso wins and gets closer to the 2006 title.

2007

The year 2007 will enter the annals of Formula One as one of the most embattled and intense seasons in the history of the series: two teams, Ferrari and McLaren, and their drivers, Massa and new-entry Raikkonen, Alonso and the rookie Hamilton, fought for the World Title until the last race. A duel, which sailed close to the wind, with Ferrari as the victim of industrial espionage and a guilty McLaren (disqualified from the Constructors’ Championship). The Scuderia – where the role of the Technical Director passed to Mario Almondo after Ross Brawn had decided to take a sabbatical – put the F2007 onto the track, which had with its long wheelbase and the perfect weight distribution two main advantages. In the season where Bridgestone again became the sole tyre supplier and the V8s where technically “frozen”, the Scuderia conquered nine wins (6 with Raikkonen, 3 with Massa), 9 pole positions as well as 12 fastest race laps, winning the Constructor’s Championship with 204 points and the Drivers’ Title with Kimi Raikkonen at the last race of the season in Brazil, gaining the upper-hand on the McLaren duo.

Australian GP: at his debut with the Scuderia, Raikkonen wins the opening race at Albert Park in Melbourne.

At the Chinese GP Raikkonen gains the 200th win for the Scuderia Ferrari in 757 Grands Prix in Formula 1 behind the wheel of the F2007.

On the podium in Brazil: Jean Todt congratulating winner Kimi Raikkonen – the Finnish driver is World Champion.

2008

In a Championship, where the main novelties where the introduction of a simplified switchboard, which was the same for all the teams, the elimination of the traction control, higher lateral protections, a gearbox lifespan of four races in a row, the Scuderia – with Stefano Domenicali as the new Team Principal and Aldo Costa as the Technical Director – defended the World Title, putting the F2008 on the track. At the end of an equally intense season like the previous one, Ferrari won the 16th Constructors’ Title with 8 victories (6 Massa, 2 Raikkonen), 8 pole positions and 13 fastest race laps. Regarding the Drivers’ Title at the last race, held in Brazil, it was a sad day for the Prancing Horse: Felipe Massa, who won the race, was indeed World Champion for less than 40 seconds, until Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) crossed the line. At the last corner the English driver had gained fifth position in the race and the four necessary points to win the Title with one point ahead of the Brazilian Ferrarista.

Felipe Massa winning with the F2008 on the circuit of Valencia, where the European GP is held. The Brazilian driver will win six races in the 2008 season.

Massa on the podium of the Brazilian GP: despite winning the last race of the season he misses the Drivers’ Title by one point.

2009

To facilitate overtaking, guaranteeing more spectacular races, the Federation had planned new technical regulations for the 2009 season: a proper revolution in F1, with completely differently looking single-seaters. The front wing was much wider than in the past, the rear wing much narrower and higher, the diffusor further back, the bodies were without air-outlets and the aerodynamic devices reduced. The drivers had the possibility to move the flaps’ angles from the cockpit and then there was the introduction of the KERS – the kinetic energy recovery system – and the slicks were back, too. Each driver could use up to eight engines throughout the season, tests during the year were no longer allowed. These were the main modifications regarding the regulations for a season where the balance of power on the track was newly arranged: with the F60 – whose name celebrated the 60th participation of the Scuderia in the F1 Championship – the Scuderia couldn’t offer opposition to teams like Red Bull and Brawn GP, while the latter was built on the remains of Honda with Ross Brawn in the driver’s seat. It was another season with polemics, when several teams benefitted from grey areas in the regulations, using technical solutions at the limit. FOTA had threatened to organise an alternative series as an answer to a FIA proposal of capping the budget. This year Ferrari gained just one success, with Kimi Raikkonen in Spa-Francorchamps, while a terrible accident during the qualifying at the Hungarian GP put an end to Felipe Massa’s season, replaced by Luca Badoer and then Giancarlo Fisichella. The 2009 Championship, won by Jenson Button and Brawn GP, ended for the Scuderia with a disappointing fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.

In the qualifying of the Hungarian GP Massa is the victim of an accident: skull fracture and concussion is what the medics say. This is how the men from the Scuderia support the Brazilian driver.

Kimi Raikkonen at the Eau Rouge: in Spa, the Scuderia’s only success in the 2009 season.