The 125 F1 was Ferrari's first ever Formula One car. It shared its engine with the 125 S sports racer which preceded it by a year, but was developed at the same time by Enzo Ferrari, Valerio Colotti and the famed designer, Gioacchino Colombo.
Mechanical details[]
The 125 F1 used a supercharged 1.5 L V12 engine and sported a steel tube-frame chassis with longitudinal and cross members. It had a double wishbone suspension with a transverse leaf spring in front and a torsion bar in the rear which was upgraded to a de Dion tube for 1950. Worm and sector steering and four-wheel drum brakes were the norm for the time. The 2160 mm (85 in) wheelbase was uprated to 2320 mm (91 in) in the 1949 redesign. The chassis and transmission of the car design was by Valerio Colotti.
The 125 F1 was powered by Gioacchino Colombo's 1.5 L (1497 cc/91 in³) 60° V12. It had a single overhead camshaft on each bank of cylinders with a 60° angle between the two banks. The engine had two valves per cylinder fed through one Weber 40DOC3 or 50WCF carburettor. With just a 6.5:1 compression ratio, the supercharged engine still produced 230 hp (172 kW) at 7000 rpm. However, the Roots-type single-stage supercharger was incapable of producing the high-end power required to compete with the strong eight-cylinder Alfa Romeo 158 and four-cylinder Maserati 4CLT. Strong driving and a nimble chassis, however, allowed the company to place third in its first outing, at the Valentino Grand Prix on September 5, 1948 and the company persevered in racing.
For 1949, the engine was further modified with dual overhead camshafts (though still two valves per cylinder) and a two-stage supercharger. This combination gave the car better top-end performance and the resulting 280 hp (209 kW) gave it five Grand Prix wins. Development continued the following year, but the problematic superchargers were dropped in favor of larger displacement and Lampredi's 275 engine superseded the original Colombo engine.
Original chassis have been lost (used for Ferrari 275), but an exact replica with the original Colombo engine currently resides in Museo Ferrari in Maranello alongside newer Ferrari F1 machines.
Racing[]
The 125 F1 debuted at the Valentino Grand Prix on September 5, 1948. Three cars were fielded, with drivers Prince Bira of Siam, Nino Farina, and Raymond Sommer who placed third in the race.
| Date | Location | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| October 24, 1948 | Garda Circuit, Salò | Giuseppe Farina |
| July 3, 1949 | Switzerland Grand Prix, Bern | Alberto Ascari |
| July 31, 1949 | Zandvoort Grand Prix | Luigi Villoresi |
| August 20, 1949 | Daily Express Trophy, Silverstone | Alberto Ascari |
| September 11, 1949 | Italian Grand Prix, Monza | Alberto Ascari |
| September 25, 1949 | Masaryk Circuit, Brno | Peter Whitehead |
| July 13, 1950 | Jersey Road Race | Peter Whitehead |
| August 12, 1950 | Ulster Trophy, Dundrod | Peter Whitehead |
| October 1, 1950 | Interstate Race, Interlagos | Francisco Landi |
| January 27, 1951 | São Paulo Grand Prix | Francisco Landi |
| May 20, 1951 | Governador Noguera Garcez Race, Interlagos | Francisco Landi |
| June 28, 1951 | Bõa Vista Grand Prix, Rio de Janeiro | Francisco Landi |
Complete Formula One World Championship results[]
(key) (results in bold indicate pole position, results in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12 | D | GBR | MON | 500 | SUI | BEL | FRA | ITA | ||
| Peter Whitehead | DNS | 3 | 7 | ||||||||
| P | Luigi Villoresi | Ret | Ret | 6 | |||||||
| Alberto Ascari | 2 | Ret | |||||||||
| Raymond Sommer | 4 | ||||||||||
| 1951 | Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12 | D | SUI | 500 | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | ITA | ESP | |
| Peter Whitehead | Ret | Ret | |||||||||
| P | Ret | ||||||||||
| 1952 | Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12 | D | SUI | 500 | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | NED | ITA | |
| Peter Whitehead | 10 | DNQ |
