Sebastian Vettel is set to become one of just three Germans at Scuderia Ferrari in their seemingly endless history from the 2015 Formula One season onwards. The four-time World Champion will be expecting nothing less than race wins and further titles to add to his collection which he has amassed at Red Bull Racing. This is a look back at the two other Germans to race for the most famous team in Formula One since Ferrari began racing its own cars in 1947—Wolfgang von Trips and Michael Schumacher.
Wolfgang von Trips—1956-1961
Wolfgang Alexander Albert Eduard Maximilian Reichsgraf Berghe von Trips, or Wolfgang von Trips to you and me, took two victories for Ferrari in the 1961 season, and could well have won the championship that year. The Count was set to make his debut in Formula One at the Italian Grand Prix for Lancia (with a Ferrari engine in the front) back in 1956, but he suffered an accident in practice and he was unable to participate in the race. Von Trips finally made his Grand Prix debut at the Argentine Grand Prix the following year, finishing sixth at Buenos Aires in a drive which he shared with Cesare Perdisa and Peter Collins. He jumped to the Ferrari works team for the Monaco Grand Prix in a shared drive with future champion Mike Hawthorn, but the engine expired with just five laps to go. Von Trips achieved his first podium in his first race in which he did not share the car at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Another podium at the French Grand Prix the following year was the best that von Trips could manage whilst Hawthorn took the car to the title, though von Trips only attended six of the eleven races that year. A single race for Ferrari in the following season netted zero points as von Trips tried Porsche’s Formula One effort, which delivered little.
Von Trips became a full Ferrari works driver for 1960 in the 246 which took Hawthorn to the title two years prior. Von Trips took part in every race that season, apart from the Indianapolis 500, which was part of the championship in those days. Von Trips achieved a fourth place and three fifth places for Ferrari that season and took seventh in the championship in a year dominated by Jack Brabham and his Cooper-Climax. A one-off for Cooper-Maserati at the United States Grand Prix delivered very little, but the following season was to deliver the best and worst for von Trips. Ferrari produced the revolutionary 156 with its unique shark nose and from the word go it was quick. Ferrari also had three drivers who were regarded highly on the grid in von Trips and Americans Ritchie Ginther and Phil Hill. Von Trips took his first victory at the Netherlands, where he led Hill to a 1-2 for Ferrari, only for Hill to hit back at the notorious Spa-Francorchamps circuit, where he led a historic Ferrari 1-2-3-4. Giancarlo Baghetti won in his first Grand Prix in a customer 156 at the French Grand Prix before von Trips led a 1-2-3 at the British Grand Prix. Stirling Moss (Monaco winner that year) also won at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, but von Trips extended his lead to four points in the championship with second. At this point in the season both Moss and Ginther also had outside shots at the title but it looked to be a fight between von Trips and Hill for the title.
So the title fight was to take its tragic twist at Monza. The race was run on the 10-kilometre version of the track, with the banking sections. Von Trips took the only pole of his career on the famous circuit with Hill in fourth. Von Trips didn’t start well, and slipped back. On the second lap of the race, von Trips was involved in a collision with Jim Clark’s Lotus and flew into the crowd, killing the German instantly as well as fifteen spectators. It remains the worst fatal accident in Formula One’s history. Hill took the final win of his career and the title by a point and Ferrari took their first Constructors’ Championship, though not in the way they wanted to achieve it. Until Michael Schumacher took victory at the Belgian Grand Prix in 1992, only Jochen Rindt (who was German but raced under an Austrian License) and Jochen Mass (who won the shortened 1975 Spanish Grand Prix) were the only Germans as well as von Trips to achieve victory in a World Championship race. Von Trips was the first of seven drivers to race under a German License to achieve a victory in a World Championship event on top of that.
Michael Schumacher—1996-2006
Michael Schumacher moved to Ferrari in 1996 for $30million a year having dominated the championship with Benetton the year before. He was just one part of the seemingly invincible combination which Jean Todt put together with Schumacher’s help. Schumacher also assisted in bringing in Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn from his old team.
Ferrari were pretty shambolic in the early-mid nineties, with Alain Prost famously likening his Ferrari to a truck, and the pit crew’s performances were very poor compared to McLaren, Benetton and Williams—the teams to beat in that era. It was not just Schumacher’s ability to build a team which helped, but his ability to drive a car too. Each of Schumacher’s three victories that season—at a soaked Barcelona, at Spa and at Monza are often regarded as some of his greatest. He finished third in the championship behind the two Williams cars of Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve. Schumacher won a further five races the following year to take a full-on title challenge to Villeneuve. However, a controversial collision between the two at the title decider in Jerez was seen to be Schumacher’s fault and he was disqualified from second place in the championship.
For 1998, McLaren were the team to beat, and although they started very strongly, Schumacher and Ferrari caught up. Schumacher took six wins, including a fantastic win at Hungary that year, but Mika Hakkinen took the title at the end of the year after the German stalled from pole in the title decider at Suzuka. A strong start to the 1999 season was nulled when Schumacher suffered a break failure at the British Grand Prix, leaving him with a broken leg and out for six races. His team mate Eddie Irvine challenged Hakkinen but the Finn held on, despite Schumacher returning for the final two rounds. Ferrari however achieved their first championship since 1983 as they took the Constructors’ Title.
Schumacher and Hakkinen duelled like crazy once again in 2000, but after 21 long years, Ferrari had their new World Champion. In what he dubbed his greatest race Schumacher clinched the title with a race to spare at Suzuka, having passed Hakkinen in the pit stops and holding him off for the rest of the race. 2001 began the years of absolute domination for Schumacher as he finished every race except three that year in either first or second place. The following year, Schumacher finished every single race in either first, second or third; the latter he only achieved once that year.
The F2002 driven that year remains one of the most successful Formula One cars of all time, as Ferrari scored more points than all of the other cars that year combined. 2003 was a bit tougher for Schumacher as he suffered the loss of his mother on the morning of the San Marino Grand Prix (which he won). Despite winning four races in the first eight races, Finn Kimi Räikkönen and Columbian Juan Pablo Montoya were picking up wins and podiums for McLaren and Williams respectively. Schumacher eventually took his record-breaking sixth title at Suzuka by just two points over Räikkönen. 2004 saw Schumacher win a scarcely believable twelve out of thirteen races en route to his seventh title.
At this point, the regulations were being changed to hurt Ferrari and make the series more competitive and less predictable. That was exactly what happened the following year, and Schumacher lost his crown to a young Fernando Alonso, who won the title for Renault, which was Benetton—Schumacher’s old team. A lone victory at the farcical United States Grand Prix en route to third place in the championship was all that Schumacher had to shout about.
Despite this, Schumacher and Ferrari hit back in 2006. With Renault seemingly being on top still—Fernando Alonso finished every race in the first half of the season in either first or second place—meant that there was a significant deficit at this point. However, five wins from seven races brought Schumacher back into play and Alonso and the German were level with two races to go. At this point, Schumacher announced his ‘retirement’ and Räikkönen was swiftly announced as his replacement. Alonso won the Japanese Grand Prix after Schumacher suffered his first mechanical problem in a race in five years. A problem in qualifying at the Brazilian Grand Prix, as well as a puncture, effectively ended hopes of an eighth title, though Schumacher fought from the back through to fourth. We all thought that this would be the last that we would see of Michael Schumacher.
Schumacher held a role as a development driver for Ferrari, and was even set to make a dramatic comeback when Felipe Massa suffered his horrific accident in Hungary in 2009, but it wasn’t to be, as Schumacher was not deemed fit enough at the time. He left his role at the end of the year to be reunited with Ross Brawn at Mercedes, though the results simply didn’t come in his second career. Despite this, Schumacher’s impact on Ferrari could be felt as the team took three titles between 2007 and 2008 with Massa and Räikkönen. With 72 wins and five consecutive Drivers’ Championships and six Constructors’ Championships, this partnership remains by far the most successful in Formula One history.
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