Scuderia Ferrari

Scuderia Ferrari is the name for the Gestione Sportiva, the division of the Ferrari automobile company concerned with racing. The racing team has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929. Currently the team races in Formula One only, under the team name "Scuderia Ferrari". The Scuderia and Ferrari Corse Clienti also manage the racing activities of numerous Ferrari customers and private teams in other categories of motorsport.

Scuderia Ferrari is statistically the most successful F1 team in history (with a record of 15 drivers' championships and 16 constructors' championships won). It is also the oldest surviving team, having competed since 1948. The team is the most popular in motorsport, with a great number of supporters known as tifosi.

The team's current drivers are Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, and its test drivers are Luca Badoer and Marc Gené, who were teammates at Minardi back in 1999, and Giancarlo Fisichella. Massa sustained a serious head injury during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix and has since been unable to race. Giancarlo Fisichella is Massa's temporary replacement. On 30 September 2009, Ferrari announced that they had signed double world champion Fernando Alonso to a three-year contract to drive for them starting in 2010. The Spaniard will replace 2007 world champion Kimi Räikkönen, who has signed a deal with the Citroën Junior Team in the World Rally Championship.

Originally founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929 to enter amateur drivers in various races, in 1933 Scuderia Ferrari became the acting racing team of Alfa Romeo. In October 1939 Enzo Ferrari left Alfa when the racing activity stopped and immediately began work a racecar of his own, the Tipo 815 (eight cylinders, 1.5 L displacement). The 815s, designed by Alberto Massimino, were thus the first Ferrari cars. World War II put a temporary end to racing, and after the war, Ferrari constructed the 12-cylinder, 1.5 L Tipo 125, the first racing car to bear the Ferrari name. Ferrari entered the Formula One World Championship on its formation in 1950.