Drivers: Felipe Massa | Kimi Raikkonen

Website: www.ferrariworld.com

Those expecting Ferrari to undergo a transitional period following the simultaneous departures of Michael Schumacher and Ross Brawn were disappointed in 2007, as the new-look team swept to a double title triumph.

Now, a year in, with a new world champion driver riding high and a restructured technical team proving its quality, F1’s most decorated and evocative team is ready to write a new chapter in the Maranello annals.

Of course the first year post the ‘dream team’ wasn’t without its dramas, as Ferrari went head-to-head both on and off track with arch-rival McLaren in on of the most dramatic seasons ever.

The F2007 car was regularly unstoppable on fast-flowing circuits and nine wins were testament to the machine’s prodigious speed.

But too-frequent reliability glitches ensured its title challenge was much harder than it should have been – and Ferrari has conceded it must tighten up in that area with its latest challenger.

The man charged with overseeing Ferrari’s title defence is Stefano Domenicali, who takes over the head of the race team as Jean Todt takes more of a back seat to concentrate on his wider role within Ferrari.

The new F2008 has proved to be both consistently fast during winter testing, and with Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa at the wheel Ferrari has the only proven multiple race-winning line-up on the grid.

All of which means the Scuderia will be tough to beat once again.

F1 track record

Ferrari’s 2007 success took its overall tally to 15 drivers’ and constructors’ titles apiece – further strengthening its status as the most successful team in F1 history.

Great names like Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio and Mike Hawthorn gave Ferrari four titles in the 1950s, before American Phil Hill and Briton John Surtees joined the elite club in the early 1960s.

Ferrari's fortunes went into a prolonged slump thereafter until ace engineer Mauro Forghieri introduced the ‘T’ series of cars that revitalised the team in the mid-1970s.

Niki Lauda then delivered the results on track, with title doubles following in 1975 and 1977, before Jody Scheckter added another title at the end of the decade.

But Scheckter’s ’79 success gave way to a 21-year title drought.

The team enjoyed some success in the turbo era, taking constructors’ titles in 1982 and 1983, but tragedy struck when the legendary Gilles Villeneuve was killed during practice for the 1982 Belgian GP at Zolder.

In 1988, team founder Enzo Ferrari died, strengthening the FIAT group’s hold over the team.

Alain Prost came close to bringing Ferrari another title in 1990, but this proved to be a brief moment of relief amid years of underachievement and internal politics.

New team boss Jean Todt was hired to stop the rot in 1993 – an appointment which would ultimately prove a masterstroke.

The subsequent signing of reigning double world champion Michael Schumacher in 1996, followed by his former Benetton colleagues Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne a year later, showed Ferrari meant business once again.

After three consecutive runner-up finishes (and a constructors’ title in 1999), Ferrari finally reached the top in 2000 – allowing Schumacher to clinch that elusive drivers’ title.

The floodgates then opened, with another four championships following in subsequent seasons.

But in 2005 the chasing pack finally usurped Ferrari, whose Bridgestone tyres were no match for rivals’ Michelins.

Ferrari was back on form in 2006, and took some crushing wins in mid-season, but what turned out to be both Schumacher and Brawn’s final season ended in narrow defeat to Renault.