Ferrari

They are the most iconic team in the sport, the most decorated team in the sport, and somehow still the team most capable of breaking their fans’ hearts.

When you think Formula 1, you probably think Ferrari.

Not just because they are old. Not just because they are successful. But because Ferrari feel bigger than just another team on the grid. They are Formula 1 heritage, passion, pressure and chaos all rolled into one very red package. Scuderia Ferrari is based in Maranello, Italy, and it is the most successful team in the history of the sport with 16 Constructors’ Championships. And yet, weirdly, a huge part of Ferrari’s modern identity is not just about winning — it is about the wait to win again.

That is what makes Ferrari so fascinating. They are the most iconic team in F1, but also one of the teams most haunted by expectation.

Ferrari’s story started long before Formula 1 as we know it today. Scuderia Ferrari was officially founded on 16 November 1929 as a racing operation, originally running Alfa Romeo cars before Ferrari eventually built its own. That is a really important part of the Ferrari myth. This was racing first. The road cars, the luxury image, the global fame — all of that came after. At its core, Ferrari started as a racing team with a proper obsession for competition, and when the F1 World Championship began in 1950, Ferrari were there from the start. That ever-present status matters. No other team is more woven into the fabric of the sport.

Ferrari’s first real breakthrough in Formula 1 came in the early 1950s. Their first world championship Grand Prix win arrived at the 1951 British Grand Prix, and then Alberto Ascari helped deliver the team’s first true dominant spell by winning back-to-back Drivers’ Championships in 1952 and 1953. So from very early on, Ferrari were not just part of F1 — they were one of the teams defining what success in F1 even looked like.

That early glory set the tone for everything that followed. Ferrari have always felt like more than a race team. They became an Italian national symbol. When Ferrari are good, the whole sport feels more alive. When Ferrari are bad, the noise around them is louder than almost anyone else. That is because the Ferrari job is different. Drivers are not just driving for points. Team principals are not just managing staff. Everyone is carrying the pressure of history, the media, the tifosi and the expectation that Ferrari should always be fighting at the front.

And that pressure has shaped every era.

In the mid-1970s, Ferrari climbed back to the top with Niki Lauda, who helped drag them into another great period. The titles in 1975 and 1977 re-established Ferrari as a true powerhouse, and then Jody Scheckter’s championship in 1979 gave them what would become a strangely painful milestone: Ferrari’s last Drivers’ title for decades. At the time, nobody would have guessed that single stat would become such a massive part of Ferrari’s modern story.

Because then came the drought.

And that is where Ferrari become such a Formula Fools dream topic, because no team does triumph and heartbreak quite like them.

The Schumacher era changed everything. When Michael Schumacher joined Ferrari in 1996, the team were not stepping into easy success. They were trying to build something. Along with Jean Todt and Ross Brawn, Schumacher became part of the leadership core that turned Ferrari back into an empire. That partnership delivered Ferrari’s modern golden era in the early 2000s, and for a while they looked almost unbeatable. Schumacher became the face of Ferrari in the modern age, and probably the driver most people instantly associate with the team. Fair enough too — when people picture dominant Ferrari, they picture Schumacher in red.

The defining moment of that era was the 2000 Japanese Grand Prix, where Schumacher finally ended Ferrari’s Drivers’ Championship drought stretching back to 1979. That was not just another title. That was a release. A massive emotional payoff. It felt like the team had finally dragged itself back to where it believed it belonged. From there, Ferrari went on a proper run of dominance and reminded everyone why the badge carries so much weight.

But Ferrari being Ferrari, even success never seems to fully calm things down.

Their most recent Constructors’ Championship came in 2008, which is both a proud stat and a brutal one. Proud because they still won the teams’ title. Brutal because that same season also ended in iconic heartbreak in the Drivers’ Championship fight. Honestly, that feels very Ferrari. They can win something huge and still somehow leave the year with a feeling of pain hanging over it. Legacy and suffering seem to live side by side at Ferrari more than anywhere else.

That is why Ferrari’s team identity is so unique. They are the sport’s emotion team. Everything feels louder there. The highs are higher, the lows are lower, and every mistake feels like an international incident. Ferrari have produced some of the most legendary cars, drivers and moments in F1 history, but they have also had long periods where the pressure becomes part of the problem. When things go wrong at Ferrari, it is not just one issue. It is internal pressure, media pressure and tifosi pressure all piling on at once.

That is also why the big figures matter so much.

Enzo Ferrari is where the whole identity begins. Schumacher is the face of the modern golden era. Jean Todt and Ross Brawn were the brains that helped build that early-2000s dynasty. And now in this current chapter, Fred Vasseur is the man trying to guide Ferrari through one of the most high-pressure pairings they have had in years.

Because where Ferrari are today is very, very interesting.

For 2026, Ferrari have Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton as their drivers, which is about as blockbuster as it gets. One is the long-term Ferrari golden boy who feels emotionally tied to the future of the team. The other is one of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport arriving in red to try and write one final massive chapter. On paper, that is ridiculously strong. In reality, it also comes with huge pressure, because Ferrari are not defending titles here — they are trying to end a long wait and turn promise into actual championships.

That is the challenge.

The strengths are obvious. Elite driver line-up. Huge resources. Massive motivation. Ferrari do not lack talent, facilities, or history. But the pressure points are just as obvious too. They need to turn potential into championships while the whole world watches every move. And they need to manage two massive-name drivers in the same garage without the whole thing becoming a soap opera whenever results get tense.

Big picture, Ferrari represent Formula 1’s history, identity and emotion more than any other team. Even people who do not support Ferrari still understand that the sport feels different when Ferrari are in the fight. Their modern story is actually very simple: massive legacy, massive expectations, and a very long wait since 2008. Until they finally get back to the very top, Ferrari will remain one of the biggest comeback stories in the sport.

Because with Ferrari, the question is never whether they matter.

It is whether they can finally make all that history mean something again in the present.