Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari ( / f ə ˈ r ɑːr i / ; Italian: [ˈɛntso anˈsɛlmo ferˈraːri] ; 18 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian racing driver and business owner. He founded Scuderia Ferrari in Grand Prix car racing and later created the Ferrari car brand. During his time leading Ferrari in Formula One, the team won nine World Drivers' Championships and eight World Constructors' Championships.

He was known by many names, including "il Commendatore" and "il Drake." The nickname "il Drake" was given by British competitors, who compared him to the famous English explorer Francis Drake, because of Ferrari's skill and determination in achieving success with his small company. In his later years, people often called him "l'Ingegnere" (the Engineer), "il Grande Vecchio" (the Grand Old Man), "il Cavaliere" (the Knight), "il Mago" (the Wizard), and "il Patriarca" (the Patriarch).

Early life

Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari was born on February 18, 1898, in Modena, Italy. However, his birth certificate lists February 20 instead. His parents were Alfredo Ferrari and Adalgisa Bisbini. He had an older brother named Alfredo Junior, also known as Dino. The family lived at via Paolo Ferrari number 85, near the mechanical workshop that Alfredo started. This workshop was later used by Alfredo to work for the nearby railways. Today, this location is the Enzo Ferrari Museum. Alfredo Senior was the son of a grocer from Carpi and began a workshop making metal parts at the family home.

Enzo received little formal education. Unlike his brother, he preferred working in his father’s workshop. He helped build the canopy at the Giulianova station in 1914. Enzo wanted to become an operetta tenor, sports journalist, or racing driver. At age 10, he saw Felice Nazzaro win the 1908 Circuito di Bologna race, which inspired him to become a racing driver. During World War I, he served in the 3rd Mountain Artillery Regiment of the Italian Army. His father, Alfredo, and his older brother, Alfredo Jr., died in 1916 due to a flu outbreak in Italy. Enzo became very ill during the 1918 flu pandemic and was then discharged from the Italian military.

Racing career

After his family's carpentry business failed, Ferrari looked for work in the car industry. He tried to find a job at Fiat in Turin but was not hired. Eventually, he took a job as a test driver for CMN (Costruzioni Meccaniche Nazionali), a car company in Milan that repaired used truck parts to make small passenger cars. Later, he became a race car driver and made his first competition appearance in the 1919 Parma-Poggio di Berceto hill climb race. He finished fourth in the three-litre category, driving a 2.3-litre 4-cylinder C.M.N. 15/20. On November 23 of the same year, he participated in the Targa Florio but had to stop racing after his car's fuel tank leaked. Because many drivers also retired, he finished 9th in the race.

In 1920, Ferrari joined the racing team of Alfa Romeo as a driver. He won his first Grand Prix in 1923 at the Savio Circuit in Ravenna. 1924 was his most successful season, with three race wins: Ravenna, Polesine, and the Coppa Acerbo in Pescara. Ferrari was deeply affected by the deaths of Ugo Sivocci in 1923 and Antonio Ascari in 1925. He admitted he raced less passionately after these events. At the same time, he became interested in organizing Grand Prix races. After his son Alfredo (Dino) was born in 1932, Ferrari decided to retire from racing and instead formed a team of top drivers, including Giuseppe Campari and Tazio Nuvolari. This team, called Scuderia Ferrari (founded by Enzo in 1929), worked as a racing division for Alfa Romeo. The team was very successful, thanks to strong cars like the Alfa Romeo P3 and skilled drivers like Nuvolari. Ferrari stopped competing after participating in 41 Grand Prix races, winning 11 of them.

During this time, the prancing horse emblem appeared on his team's cars. The emblem was created by an Italian fighter pilot named Francesco Baracca. During World War I, Baracca's mother gave him a necklace with the prancing horse before he flew. Baracca was killed in 1918 by an Austrian airplane. To honor his memory, Ferrari used the prancing horse as the team's symbol. The emblem first appeared on an Alfa Romeo racing car and later on a factory-made Ferrari in 1947.

Building Ferrari

Alfa Romeo partnered with Ferrari's racing team until 1933, but money problems forced them to stop supporting the team. Later, Pirelli helped them continue. Although the drivers in Ferrari's team were skilled, they had trouble competing with Auto Union and Mercedes. Even though German companies dominated the racing era, Ferrari's team won a major race in 1935 when Tazio Nuvolari beat Rudolf Caracciola and Bernd Rosemeyer at the German Grand Prix.

In 1937, Scuderia Ferrari ended its operations, and Ferrari returned to Alfa's racing team, called "Alfa Corse." Alfa Romeo decided to take full control of its racing division and kept Ferrari as Sporting Director. After a disagreement with Alfa's managing director, Ugo Gobbato, Ferrari left in 1939 and started a company called Auto-Avio Costruzioni, which provided parts to other racing teams. Although a contract said he could not race or design cars for four years, Ferrari made two cars for the 1940 Mille Miglia, which were driven by Alberto Ascari and Lotario Rangoni. When World War II began, Ferrari's factory had to make war supplies for Mussolini's government. After Allied bombing, Ferrari moved his factory from Modena to Maranello. After the war, Ferrari started making cars with his name and founded Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947.

Enzo Ferrari wanted to compete against Alfa Romeo and formed his own racing team. The team's first open-wheel race was in Turin in 1948, and they won their first race later that year at Lago di Garda. Their first major victory came in 1949 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with a Ferrari 166 MM driven by Luigi Chinetti and Peter Mitchell-Thomson. In 1950, Ferrari joined the newly created Drivers World Championship and remained in the competition continuously since its start. Ferrari won his first world championship Grand Prix in 1951 with José Froilán González at Silverstone. It is said that Enzo cried when his team finally beat the powerful Alfa Romeo 159. Ferrari's first championship came in 1952 with Alberto Ascari, and this was repeated the next year. In 1953, Ferrari entered the Indianapolis 500 for the first time, but the car driven by Ascari crashed on lap 41.

To fund his racing efforts in Formula One and other events like the Mille Miglia and Le Mans, Ferrari began selling sports cars.

Ferrari's decision to continue racing in the Mille Miglia brought the company more wins and increased public recognition. However, faster speeds, poor road conditions, and lack of crowd protection led to tragedy. During the 1957 Mille Miglia, a 4.0-liter Ferrari 335 S driven by Alfonso de Portago was traveling at 250 km/h (160 mph) when a tire failed, causing the car to crash into the crowd. The crash killed de Portago, his co-driver, and nine spectators, five of whom were children. Enzo Ferrari and Englebert, the tire manufacturer, were charged with manslaughter. After a long legal process, the charges were dismissed in 1961.

Unhappy with how motorsports were reported in Italian newspapers, Ferrari supported Luciano Conti, a publisher in Bologna, when he started a new magazine called Autosprint in 1961. Ferrari wrote for the magazine for several years.

Many of Ferrari's greatest victories occurred at Le Mans (nine wins, including six in a row from 1960 to 1965) and in Formula One during the 1950s and 1960s. These successes included wins by Juan Manuel Fangio (1956), Mike Hawthorn (1958), and Phil Hill (1961).

The Great Walkout

In 1962, Enzo Ferrari's strong personality and management style that caused disagreement became well-known. After a weak defense of Phil Hill's 1961 world title, several key workers, including Girolamo Gardini, Romolo Tavoni, Carlo Chiti, Giotto Bizzarrini, and others, left Ferrari to start a competing car company and racing team called Automobili Turismo e Sport (ATS). Based in Bologna and supported financially by Count Giovanni Volpi, ATS successfully brought Phil Hill and Giancarlo Baghetti away from Ferrari. In response, Ferrari promoted younger engineers like Mauro Forghieri, Sergio Scaglietti, and Giampaolo Dallara, and hired drivers such as Ludovico Scarfiotti, Lorenzo Bandini, Willy Mairesse, and John Surtees to race his Formula One cars.

This "great walkout" happened during a challenging time for Ferrari. At the time, the company was working on a new car based on the 250 model, but it was unclear if it could be successful in races. Despite the changes, Ferrari's efforts were successful. The mid-engined Dino racing cars helped create the powerful 250 P model designed by Mauro Forghieri. In 1964, driver John Surtees won the world title after a close competition with Jim Clark and Graham Hill. The Dino cars sold well, and other models like the 275 and Daytona were being developed. Meanwhile, ATS struggled after a difficult 1963 Formula One season, with both of its cars failing to finish four out of five races, and the company ended operations by the end of the year.

In 1998, Romolo Tavoni said in an interview that he and other senior workers at Ferrari did not leave on their own, but were forced to leave after a disagreement with Enzo Ferrari about the role of his wife in the company. He explained, "Our mistake was to contact a lawyer and write him a letter instead of talking directly with Enzo. We knew his wife was unwell, and we should have handled the situation differently. When Enzo called a meeting to fire us, he had already chosen our replacements."

Merging with Fiat

By the end of the 1960s, Ferrari faced money problems and had to deal with challenges like racing in many categories and meeting new safety and clean air rules for cars. These issues led Ferrari to look for a business partner. In 1969, Ferrari sold 50% of his company to Fiat S.p.A. under an agreement that allowed him to keep full control of racing activities. Fiat also agreed to pay a large amount of money until Ferrari’s death for using his production plants in Maranello and Modena. Earlier, in 1963, Ferrari had offered Ford the chance to buy the company for $18 million (equivalent to about $189 million in 2025 dollars). However, Ferrari stopped the deal when he learned Ford would not let him control the racing department. In 1965, Ferrari became a joint-stock company, and Fiat owned a small share. By 1969, Fiat increased its ownership to 50%, and by 1988, Fiat held 90% of the company.

After the agreement with Fiat, Ferrari left his role as head of the road car division in 1971. In 1974, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo was named Sporting Director and Formula One Team manager. Montezemolo later became president of Ferrari in 1992 and held this position until September 2014. In 1974, Clay Regazzoni finished second in the championship, while Niki Lauda won the title in 1975 and 1977. In 1977, Ferrari faced criticism for replacing World Champion Lauda with new driver Gilles Villeneuve. Ferrari said Villeneuve’s driving style reminded them of Tazio Nuvolari. This belief was strengthened after the 1979 French Grand Prix, when Villeneuve finished second in a close race against René Arnoux. Technical director Mauro Forghieri said, “When we returned to Maranello, Ferrari was very happy. I have never seen him so excited about a second-place finish.”

The Modena Aerautodrome

In the early 1970s, Ferrari, along with other car builders from Modena named Maserati and Automobili Stanguellini, asked the Modena Town Council and the Automobile Club d'Italia to improve the Aerautodromo di Modena. They believed the race track was outdated and not suitable for testing modern racing cars. At first, the idea was discussed seriously, but it did not move forward because leaders lacked the support needed to make changes. Instead, Ferrari purchased land near his factory and built the Fiorano Circuit, a 3 km track that is still used today to test Ferrari racing and road cars.

Final years

After Jody Scheckter won the title in 1979, the team had a very bad season in 1980. In 1981, Ferrari tried to improve its performance by using turbo engines. In 1982, the second turbo-powered Ferrari, the 126C2, showed strong potential. However, driver Gilles Villeneuve was killed in an accident during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix in Zolder in May. In August, at Hockenheim, teammate Didier Pironi suffered a serious injury when his car flipped violently on the misty back straight after colliding with the Renault F1 driven by Alain Prost. At the time, Pironi was leading the driver's championship. He lost the lead and the championship by five points because he missed the remaining five races. The Scuderia won the Constructors Championship at the end of the season and in 1983, with driver René Arnoux competing for the championship until the final race. Michele Alboreto finished second in 1985, but the team did not win another championship before Ferrari's death in 1988. The last race win Ferrari saw before his death was when Gerhard Berger and Alboreto achieved a 1–2 finish at the final race of the 1987 season in Australia.

Auto racing and management controversies

Enzo Ferrari's leadership style was strict, and he often encouraged competition among his drivers to improve their performance. Some people believed Ferrari increased the mental pressure on drivers, creating rivalries within the team and pushing them to compete fiercely for the top position. Tony Brooks, a Ferrari driver, said, "Ferrari believed that mental pressure would help drivers achieve better results. He expected drivers to push themselves beyond normal limits. While it is possible to drive as hard as you can, it becomes dangerous when you force yourself to do things that feel beyond your ability." Mario Andretti, another driver, noted, "Ferrari demanded results, but he also recognized when cars had flaws. He appreciated drivers who gave their maximum effort, even when it was difficult. He was completely focused on motor racing and understood all its details. Though he was strict and demanding, he was always right in his decisions, which earned him the respect of others."

Between 1955 and 1971, eight Ferrari drivers died while driving Ferrari racing cars: Alberto Ascari, Eugenio Castellotti, Alfonso de Portago, Luigi Musso, Peter Collins, Wolfgang von Trips, Lorenzo Bandini, and Ignazio Giunti. While many deaths in racing were common during that time, the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano compared Ferrari to the god Saturn, who ate his own children. Ferrari defended his approach, as noted by contemporary Formula 1 driver Stirling Moss, who said, "I cannot think of any instance where a Ferrari driver’s death was caused by a car’s mechanical failure."

Publicly, Ferrari honored drivers who risked their lives for his team, stating that success in racing should be shared equally between the driver and the car. However, his friend and company accountant, Carlo Benzi, said Ferrari privately believed the car was the main reason for any success.

After the deaths of Giuseppe Campari in 1933 and Alberto Ascari in 1955—drivers with whom he had close personal connections—Ferrari avoided forming close relationships with drivers to protect himself from emotional pain. Later in life, he changed his approach and became very close to Clay Regazzoni and especially Gilles Villeneuve.

Personal life

Enzo Ferrari lived a private life and rarely gave interviews. He seldom left Modena and Maranello and never attended Grands Prix outside of Italy after the 1950s (because his passport was taken away during a trial related to the Guidizzolo tragedy). He was often seen at Grands Prix in Monza, near Milan, and Imola, close to the Ferrari factory, where the circuit was named after his late son, Dino. His last known trip outside Italy was in 1982, when he traveled to Paris to help settle a disagreement between two groups, FISA and FOCA. He never traveled by airplane (always using a car or train) and never used an elevator (preferring stairs, though he admitted it was tiring).

Ferrari met his future wife, Laura Dominica Garello (c. 1900–1978), in Turin. They lived together for two years and married on April 28, 1923. According to Brock Yates' 1991 book Enzo Ferrari: The Man and the Machine, Ferrari married to maintain appearances for his career, as divorce was not accepted in Catholic Italy. He also sought relationships for personal pride rather than pleasure. He once told a racing manager, "A man should always have two wives," and in 1961, while dating three women, he wrote, "I believe that when a man says he loves a woman, he only means he desires her, and the only perfect love is that of a father for his son." This statement came after the death of his first son.

Ferrari and Laura had one son, Alfredo "Dino," born in 1932 and trained as Enzo's successor. Dino suffered from poor health and died in 1956 from muscular dystrophy. According to Time magazine, Ferrari and Laura stayed married because of their love for their son. Though Dino never raced professionally, his father gave him cars to race for fun. Dino also designed engine parts while sick in bed. Ferrari and Laura remained married until Laura's death in 1978. John Nikas, a car history expert, said, "His real loves in life were racing and Dino."

Enzo had a second son, Piero, with his mistress, Lina Lardi, in 1945. Since divorce was illegal in Italy until 1970, Piero could not be officially recognized as Enzo's son until after Laura's death in 1978. Piero's existence was a secret known only to a few of Enzo's close friends. According to Yates, Laura discovered Enzo's second family in the late 1950s and called him a "bastard" when she saw him at a factory. After Laura's death, Enzo adopted Piero, who took the name Piero Lardi Ferrari. As of 2023, Piero is vice chairman of the company and owns a 10% share. He told the Los Angeles Times that the 2023 film Ferrari accurately portrayed his father's determination, saying, "My father was always looking ahead, moving forward, never going back."

Enzo was honored with the title Cavaliere del Lavoro in 1952, adding to his earlier titles of Cavaliere and Commendatore from the 1920s. He also received honorary degrees, including the Hammarskjöld Prize in 1962, the Columbus Prize in 1965, and the De Gasperi Award in 1987. After his death, he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame (1994) and the Automotive Hall of Fame (2000).

Death

Enzo Ferrari died on 14 August 1988 in Maranello at the age of 90 from leukemia. He was a private person and worried that people might protest if news of his death was shared too soon. This was because Ferrari’s team had lost to McLaren in every race of the 1988 season so far. Enzo wanted the media to report his death only on 16 August, the day after his burial, which was held on 15 August and attended only by his family.

Before his death, Enzo saw the launch of the Ferrari F40, a car created to honor his 40 years of achievements. In 2002, Ferrari began making the Ferrari Enzo, a car named after its founder.

The Italian Grand Prix took place weeks after Enzo’s death. Ferrari’s team finished first and second in the race, with Austrian driver Gerhard Berger winning and Italian driver Michele Alboreto finishing second. This was the only race that season where McLaren did not win. Since Enzo’s death, the Scuderia Ferrari team has continued to be successful.

From 1999 to 2004, and again in 2007 and 2008, the team won the Constructors’ Championship. Michael Schumacher won the World Drivers’ Championship with Ferrari from 2000 to 2004. Kimi Räikkönen won the championship with Ferrari in 2007.

In popular culture

• The 2003 movie Ferrari was based on his life story. The actor Sergio Castellitto played him in the film.
• In the 2013 movie Rush, Augusto Dallara had a small role as Enzo Ferrari.
• In the November 2019 movie Ford v Ferrari, Italian actor Remo Girone portrayed Ferrari.
• In the 2022 movie Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend, Gabriel Byrne played Enzo Ferrari.
• The 2023 movie Ferrari was based on his life story. Adam Driver played him in the film. Adam Driver took over the role after Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman were considered for it.
• A popular joke among fans of association football says that German footballer Mesut Özil looks very similar to Enzo Ferrari. Özil was born two months after Ferrari’s death.