Page 22 - Ferrari in F1

1991
TON WATSON FINE BOO
CHAOS, CONFUSION
AND LAYOFFS
AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF FERRARI.
in the 1990 championship, Alain Prost began the 1991
After five Grand Prix victories and a fine second place
Ferrari once again suffered internal problems.
DALTON WATSON FINE BOOKS
FERRARI FERRARI › FIRST SEASON SINCE 1986 WITHOUT A GRAND PRIX
VICTORY / ALAIN PROST DISMISSED BEFORE THE FINAL RACE OF
THE SEASON / LUCA DI MONTEZEMOLO APPOINTED CHAIRMAN
FORMULA 1 FORMULA 1 › MICHAEL SCHUMACHER MADE HIS GRAND PRIX
DEBUT IN BELGIUM ABOARD A JORDAN-FORD.
Alesi’s third-place finish in Monaco was nothing to write
home about, but confirmed the fact that the Monte Carlo track
Ferrari season with high hopes. The young Jean Alesi,
was prone to illogical results.
who had impressed in the 1989-1990 season with his
underpowered Tyrrell-Ford, was hired as the second driver. But
Steve Nichols, the former McLaren designer, was devoting
himself to longer-term Ferrari projects, and the new model
for 1991 was designed by an Argentinian, Enrique Scalabroni.
Theoretically, the new model should have been the result of a
collaboration between Scalabroni and the technical director,
aerodynamicist Henri Durand, but the two men were at
loggerheads, and both left the company within weeks of each
other, joining Lotus and McLaren respectively. They left behind
a blueprint for the car and Nichols was instructed to complete
the job.
A MISSION IMPOSSIBLE
Two halves of a drawing by two people who don’t care
for each other and who have both jumped ship led straight to
failure, and precious time was lost before Ferrari’s management
acknowledged the problem. In the end, Nichols had to start
virtually from scratch, and the Cavallino began the season with
a remake of the 1990 model. The first race, the US Grand Prix
in Phoenix, provided a promising result. Prost finished second
behind Senna (McLaren-Honda), but as McLaren-Honda and
Williams-Renault fine-tuned their models for 1991, Ferrari
© DALTON WATSON FINE BOOKS
Alesi’s natural talent was obvious, but he clearly lacked the
experience needed to lead the team out of the crisis. Prost’s
assets were his experience and technical skills, but his relationship
with team manager Cesare Fiorio was poor. Fiorio was sacked
before the Canadian Grand Prix in June, and FIAT hired a new
management team, including Piero Lardi, son of Enzo Ferrari,
who had left sports management a few years earlier. The smooth
operation of a Formula 1 racing team depended on quick
decisions and collective management, never a strong point at
Ferrari. For once, Fiorio’s replacement initially brought much-
needed calm within the team.
The new 1991 model, the F1-91 type 643, was finally ready
for the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours in July. This car was
born in a hurry, both in terms of design and development, but it
got off to a promising start. Prost qualified second on the grid
and held it throughout the race. The disappointment was palpable
in Maranello when it turned out that the new Ferrari, which had
done well on the even asphalt of the Magny-Cours circuit, was
uneven pavements.
dropped down the standings, and a further upgrade of the car
was needed before the third round of the championship, the San
Marino Grand Prix at Imola, which ended in failure. In the rain,
Prost’s car left the track on the warm-up lap, and Alesi managed
to keep his Ferrari on the pavement for two laps, before also
stopping on the grass by the side of the road.
© DALTON WATSON FINE BOOKS
hardly superior to the previous model when racing on more
Prost’s annoyance was further exacerbated when Umberto
Agnelli, dynasty owner of FIAT and Ferrari let the press know that
he preferred his sworn enemy, Ayrton Senna. “Is Prost sufficiently
dedicated?” Agnelli asked to the amazement of the French driver.
Prost retorted, “It’s difficult to be motivated in the Ferrari stable. It’s
not easy to wake up every morning knowing that you’re two seconds per
lap behind the Williams-Renault.”
DALTON WATSON