Ferrari 641

Ferrari 641
	Ferrari 641/2 (chassis 117)
Category	Formula One
Constructor	Ferrari
Designer(s)	John Barnard (Technical Director) (initial design); Steve Nichols (Technical Director); Enrique Scalabroni (Chief Designer); Henri Durand (Head of Aerodynamics); Claudio Lombardi (Engine Chief Designer)
Predecessor	640
Successor	642
Technical specifications
Chassis	Kevlar and Carbon fibre composite monocoque
Suspension (front)	Double wishbones, push-rod actuated torsion bar springs, and telescopic shock absorbers, anti-roll bar
Suspension (rear)	Double wishbones, pushrod actuated coil springs over telescopic shock absorbers, anti-roll bar
Engine	Ferrari Tipo 036 3.5 L (213.6 cu in), 65° V12, NA, mid-engine, longitudinally mounted
Transmission	Ferrari 7-speed semi-automatic
Power	680 bhp (507 kW; 689 PS) @ 12,750 rpm
Fuel	Agip
Tyres	Goodyear
Competition history
Notable entrants	Scuderia Ferrari SpA
Notable drivers	1. Alain Prost ; 2. Nigel Mansell
Debut	1990 United States Grand Prix
First win	1990 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last win	1990 Spanish Grand Prix
Last event	1990 Australian Grand Prix

Last updated November 11, 2024

The Ferrari 641 (also known as the Ferrari F1-90)^[2] was the Formula One racing car with which the Ferrari team competed in the 1990 Formula One World Championship. Driven by Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell, it won six Grands Prix.

Development

The 641 was a developed version of its predecessor, the 1989 Ferrari 640, designed by John Barnard. The updated 641 design was overseen by former McLaren designer Steve Nichols after Barnard left Ferrari to join the Benetton team, once the car's development was complete. The car was powered by a 3.5-litre V12 engine, first with the type 036, and later in San Marino with the updated 037. The V12 was rated at 680 bhp (507 kW; 689 PS), only slightly down on the 690 bhp (515 kW; 700 PS) Honda V10 engines used by McLaren, but not as flexible or as good at delivering power out of slow corners as the Honda, the Renault V10 engine used by Williams or the Ford-Cosworth HB V8 used by Benetton. Despite its heavier engine, the 641 was among the best handling cars on the grid. Prost declared it the best car of the year.^[3]

The Ferrari 641 was also the first Formula One car to use an effective traction control system, which debuted at the 1990 Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril; less than two years before a traction control system debuted on the eventually highly successful Williams FW14B. Ferrari technicians sat down on the Tuesday after the Italian GP on September 11, and developed a rudimentary traction control system, which debuted in Portugal less than two weeks later. The system was relatively simple and straightforward; using just some software and a wheel speed sensor.^[4]

Incorporating the semi-automatic gearbox developed during the previous season, the car was seen to be technically advanced. The aerodynamics were reworked and the chassis gave a slightly longer wheelbase than its predecessor. Nichols designed the car with Alain Prost’s smooth driving style in mind. Prost worked hard on improving the reliability of the gearbox and also worked behind the scenes to bring the whole Ferrari team closer together. A variable inlet trumpet system on the engine was tested throughout the season but did not become standard equipment.

Racing history

Ferrari's major coup was signing reigning World Champion Prost from McLaren to partner Nigel Mansell. The car scored six wins in the 1990 season (Prost five, Mansell one).

Prost's development work helped the 641 chassis to be extremely fast and competitive, and he scored five wins, including a remarkable victory from 13th place on the grid in Mexico, and challenged his nemesis Ayrton Senna for the championship. In the same race, Mansell outfoxed Gerhard Berger with a daring passing move at the fearsome Peraltada corner.^[5] Although the car occasionally struggled in qualifying, it appeared to have the edge on the McLarens in race trim, particularly at high-speed circuits.^[6] At the British Grand Prix, Mansell dominated qualifying while Prost struggled. Feeling that Mansell's car was superior to his own, he convinced the team to switch the chassis before the race, which he won while Mansell retired with gearbox failure while leading and setting fastest lap of the race promptly announced his quitting the sport.^[7] However, the famous collision between Prost and Senna at the Japanese Grand Prix sealed the Drivers' Championship for Senna and the Constructors' Championship for McLaren. Prost finished runner-up in the championship and Mansell finished 5th and scored 1 win, including excellent performance in his last race for Ferrari at Adelaide, where he finished 2nd and almost won that race from Nelson Piquet and his Benetton-Ford. It would be another seven years before Ferrari would challenge for either championship again.

Aftermath

Top Gear

Tiff Needell drove the 641 on Top Gear in 1995 in a segment where his co-host Jeremy Clarkson tested a Ferrari F50 and did a drag race against Needell in the 641 and some comparisons as well because the F50 road car is based on the 641.

In popular culture

The Ferrari 641 was featured in Codemasters' F1 2019 as a DLC for the "Legends Edition", Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends , Forza Motorsport 7 , and Forza Motorsport .

Complete results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Pts.	WCC
1990	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari Tipo 036 Ferrari Tipo 037 V12	G		USA	BRA	SMR	MON	CAN	MEX	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	ESP	JPN	AUS	110	2nd
				Alain Prost	Ret	1	4	Ret	5	1	1	1	4	Ret	2	2	3	1	Ret	3
				Nigel Mansell	Ret	4	Ret	Ret	3	2	18	Ret	Ret	17	Ret	4	1	2	Ret	2

Chassis log

The current^{[ when? ]} locations of the 641 chassis are:

115 - Museum of Modern Art (USA)
116 - destroyed in testing
117 - Museo Ferrari (Italy)
118 - Private collection (Germany)
119 - Private collection (Switzerland)
120 - Private collection (Germany)
121 - Private collection (UK)

Related Research Articles

Gerhard Berger is an Austrian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1984 to 1997. Berger won 10 Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons.

The 1988 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 3 April 1988, at the renamed Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet in Rio de Janeiro. Following his 3rd World Drivers' Championship in 1987 the Jacarepaguá Circuit was named after local hero Nelson Piquet. It was the first race of the 1988 Formula One season.

The 1989 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Hockenheimring on 30 July 1989. The race was won by Ayrton Senna, ahead of Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell.

The 1989 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 10 September 1989. It was the twelfth race of the 1989 Formula One season.

The 1990 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 26 August 1990. It was the eleventh race of the 1990 Formula One World Championship. The race was the 48th Belgian Grand Prix. It was the 36th to be held at Spa-Francorchamps and the seventh since the circuit was extensively redeveloped in 1979. The race was held over 44 laps of the seven kilometre circuit for a race distance of 301 kilometres.

The 1990 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 23 September 1990 at Autódromo do Estoril. It was the thirteenth race of the 1990 FIA Formula One World Championship. The race was the 19th Portuguese Grand Prix and the seventh to be held at Estoril. It was scheduled to be held over 71 laps of the 4.35-kilometre (2.70 mi) circuit but was stopped after 61 laps, a race distance of 265.35 kilometres (164.88 mi), after an accident involving the Arrows of Alex Caffi and the Lola of Aguri Suzuki.

The 1991 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on March 10, 1991 in Phoenix, Arizona. It was the first race of the 1991 Formula One World Championship. The 81-lap race was won from pole position by Ayrton Senna, driving a McLaren-Honda, with Alain Prost second in a Ferrari and Nelson Piquet third in a Benetton-Ford.

The 1991 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 45th season of FIA Formula One motor racing and the 42nd season of the Formula One World Championship. It featured the 1991 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1991 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 10 March and ended on 3 November.

The 1990 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 44th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1990 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1990 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 11 March and ended on 4 November. Ayrton Senna won the Drivers' Championship for the second time, and McLaren-Honda won their third consecutive Constructors' Championship.

The 1989 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 43rd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It began on 26 March and ended on 5 November. Alain Prost won his third Drivers' Championship, and McLaren won the Constructors' Championship.

The 1986 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 40th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1986 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1986 Formula One World Championship for Manufacturers, both of which commenced on 23 March and ended on 26 October after sixteen races. The Drivers' Championship was won by Alain Prost, Prost was the first driver to win back-to-back Drivers' Championships since Jack Brabham in 1959 and 1960. Together with Prost, Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna dominated throughout the season and formed what was dubbed as the "Gang of Four".

The McLaren MP4/4, also known as the McLaren-Honda MP4/4, is one of the most successful Formula One car designs of all time. Powered by Honda's RA168E 1.5-litre V6-turbo engine and driven by teammates Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, the car competed during the 1988 Formula One season. The design of the car was led by American engineer Steve Nichols, the full responsibility for the design of the chassis having been conferred on him by Ron Dennis. Gordon Murray, as Technical Director, had the role of liaising between the drawing office and production.

The Williams FW14 is a Formula One car designed by Adrian Newey, used by the Williams team during the 1991 and 1992 Formula One seasons. The car was driven by Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese.

The McLaren MP4/6 is a Formula One racing car designed by McLaren's Neil Oatley, Matthew Jeffreys, David North, David Neilson, Bob Bell and Mike Gascoyne; powered by the Honda RA121E V12 engine for use in the 1991 Formula One season, with the engine's design and development led by Osamu Goto. It was driven by reigning World Champion, Brazilian Ayrton Senna, and Austria's Gerhard Berger. Ayrton Senna would win his third World Championship in the MP4/6. The MP4/6 was notable for being the last F1 car to win the championship with a manual gearbox and the only F1 car powered by a V12 engine to do so.

The McLaren MP4/5, and its derived sister model, the MP4/5B, were highly successful Formula One racing cars designed by the McLaren Formula One team based in Woking, England, and powered by Honda's naturally-aspirated RA109E and RA100E V10 engines respectively. The chassis design was led by Neil Oatley, teaming up with Steve Nichols, Pete Weismann, Tim Wright, Bob Bell and Mike Gascoyne. As with the previous designs, Gordon Murray, as Technical Director, had the role of liaising between the drawing office and production. Osamu Goto was the Honda F1 team chief designer for the car's engine.

The McLaren MP4/8 was the Formula One car with which the McLaren team competed in the 1993 Formula One World Championship. The car was designed by Neil Oatley around advanced electronics technology including a semi-automatic transmission, active suspension, two-way telemetry, and traction control systems, that were developed in conjunction with McLaren shareholder Techniques d'Avant Garde (TAG). It was powered by the 3.5-litre Ford HBD7 V8 engine and was the first McLaren to feature barge boards. This was also the first Ford-powered McLaren car since the MP4/1C in 1983.

The Ferrari 640 was the Formula One racing car with which the Ferrari team competed in the 1989 Formula One World Championship. It was driven by Britain's Nigel Mansell, in his first season with the team, and Austria's Gerhard Berger, winning three races between them. A prototype version known as the 639 shares some features of the early version of the 640. This prototype was tested in 1988 prior to the introduction of the early version of the 640 in 1989. Both the early and late versions of the 640 were entered with the competition title F1-89. The 639 did not receive a competition title due to its status as a prototype model.

The Williams FW15C is a Formula One car designed by Adrian Newey and built by Williams Grand Prix Engineering for use in the 1993 Formula One World Championship. It was powered by a Renault V10 engine and driven by Frenchman Alain Prost and Briton Damon Hill.

The Williams FW12 was a Formula One racing car used by the Williams team for the 1988 season. An updated version, the FW12C, was used for 12 of the 16 races of the 1989 season. The FW12 was Williams's first naturally aspirated car since the FW08 and FW08C used in the 1982 and 1983 season.

The Williams FW13 was a Formula One racing car used by the Williams team for the last four races of the 1989 Formula One season and, when updated as the FW13B, for the whole of the 1990 season.

References

↑ "1990 Ferrari 641 F1 - Images, Specifications and Information". Ultimatecarpage.com. 28 January 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
↑ "Ferrari F1-90". Formula1.ferrari.com. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
↑ "Prost's infamous 1990 F1 Ferrari to go under the hammer". New Atlas. 22 April 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
↑ "Traction control and ABS". Motorsportmagazine.com. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
↑ Master, Matt. "Mansell makes Ferrari history in Mexico". magazine.ferrari.com. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
↑ "1990 Ferrari 641 F1 - Images, Specifications and Information". Ultimatecarpage.com. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
↑ "1990 British Grand Prix race report - Decline and Fall". Motor Sport Magazine. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2020.

Other sources

AUTOCOURSE 1990-91 by Alan Henry
AUTOCOURSE 1991-92 by Alan Henry

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "1990 Ferrari 641 F1 - Images, Specifications and Information". Ultimatecarpage.com. 28 January 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2010.

[2] "Ferrari F1-90". Formula1.ferrari.com. Retrieved 25 September 2013.

[3] "Prost's infamous 1990 F1 Ferrari to go under the hammer". New Atlas. 22 April 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2020.

[4] "Traction control and ABS". Motorsportmagazine.com. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2021.

[5] Master, Matt. "Mansell makes Ferrari history in Mexico". magazine.ferrari.com. Retrieved 6 February 2020.

[6] "1990 Ferrari 641 F1 - Images, Specifications and Information". Ultimatecarpage.com. Retrieved 6 February 2020.

[7] "1990 British Grand Prix race report - Decline and Fall". Motor Sport Magazine. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]