Ferrari is historically Formula 1’s most successful team, with 31 titles, 238 victories, and 228 pole positions to its name across a 70-year period. But what happens to drivers when their life with the Scuderia comes to an end? As Sebastian Vettel prepares for his final few months in red, MotorsportWeek.com looks back at how 10 other famous names fared after leaving Maranello.
Michael Schumacher
Ferrari legacy: A cool 72 wins, five titles, becoming statistically F1’s greatest evet
After Ferrari: Three years off, three years back, a podium
Schumacher won an astonishing five titles and 72 victories with Ferrari across an 11-year spell, having previously taken two titles and 19 wins for Benetton. After his exit in 2006, triggered partially by Kimi Raikkonen’s arrival and a desire not to see Felipe Massa shunted aside, Schumacher remained associated with Ferrari, testing its Formula 1 machinery, and also dabbled in superbike competitions. He returned to Formula 1 in 2010, with Mercedes, and a three-year spell yielded one last podium in Valencia as well as a stellar Q3 table-topping lap in Monaco, at the age of 43. He retired after 2012, being replaced by Lewis Hamilton, and has not been seen in public since a skiing accident in December 2013.
Kimi Raikkonen
Ferrari legacy: First-year title, most recent champion, hefty pay-off
After Ferrari: Two years in WRC, two years with Lotus, a Ferrari return
When Raikkonen was shuffled aside after 2009 it ended a three-season stint that resulted in a first-year title and nine wins, and also seemingly closed his time in Formula 1. Raikkonen, paid not to race in 2010, embarked on an adventure in the WRC and also tried his hand at NASCAR, before being enticed back to Formula 1 with Lotus. Two wins across 2012/13 were extremely popular and when successor Fernando Alonso raised Chairman Luca di Montezemolo’s ire mid-2013 Raikkonen was re-hired. That started a second stint, of length five years, in which Raikkonen finally added another win, at the 2018 US GP, and bagged another 26 podiums. He moved to Alfa Romeo for 2019, after being replaced by Charles Leclerc, and is still on the grid aged 40 – 13 years after his title triumph.
Fernando Alonso
Ferrari legacy: Two near-misses, underdog heroics, and that stare
After Ferrari: Deckchair connoisseur, Indy 500 attempts, sportscar triumphs
After two years with Renault, in the wake of his McLaren fall-out, the marriage of Alonso and Ferrari was surely destined to bring back the good times. Alonso won races, three times finished runner-up (including two agonising near-misses), but the title dream was never realised. Alonso re-joined McLaren, newly unified with Honda, for 2015 but the partnership proved a disaster. Alonso never again registered a podium finish and walked away from Formula 1 at the end of 2018. However, he has since starred at the Indianapolis 500 and taken two victories at the Le Mans 24 Hours in his pursuit of motorsport’s triple crown. He also entered the Dakar Rally, placing 13th.
Felipe Massa
Ferrari legacy: Magnanimous title loss, well-loved, loyal servant
After Ferrari: A renaissance with Williams, the shortest-ever retirement, Formula E
Massa had a decade-long relationship with Ferrari that included 11 wins, that famous moment in Brazil in 2008, and a near career-ending injury. Massa departed Ferrari after the 2013 season and switched to a Williams squad that hit the ground running in the hybrid era. Massa took a pole position, another five podiums, and briefly contended for a handful of wins, before retiring at the end of 2016 – though stayed on for 2017 when Mercedes recruited Valtteri Bottas. He has since competed for Venturi in Formula E and also plays a leading role with the FIA’s karting scene.
Rubens Barrichello
Ferrari legacy: Podium tears, team orders, Schu’s loyal number two
After Ferrari: Honda misfires, Brawn rise, Williams demise
Barrichello took two runner-up spots and nine wins with Ferrari, as team-mate to Schumacher during the German’s dominant spell, but after 2005 sought pastures new with Honda. A podium at the rain-hit 2008 British GP looked set to be Barrichello’s farewell when Honda pulled the plug on its F1 project but he was handed a lifeline by the reborn Brawn squad and took a further two wins, and five podiums, in 2009. After leaving Williams at the end of 2011, as Formula 1’s most experienced driver, Barrichello competed in IndyCar, won the 2014 Stock Car title in his native Brazil, and was due to race on the S5000 support category in Australia prior to the event’s cancellation earlier this year.
Eddie Irvine
Ferrari legacy: Was also there in the late 90s, took over when Schu broke his leg, nearly won the title
After Ferrari: Leading Jaguar’s promising but ultimately ruinous project
Irvine inherited the team leader role mid-1999 when Schumacher sustained leg injuries and claimed four wins in his most successful year, narrowly missing out on the Drivers’ title to Mika Hakkinen. But with Ferrari having already signed his replacement for 2000 in Rubens Barrichello he joined Jaguar, which had been branded thus after Ford acquired Stewart. Irvine scored only seven more points finishes during a three-year stint but two of them were podiums, and after retiring in 2002 he has built a successful property empire.
Jean Alesi
Ferrari legacy: Cool dude, should have won many races
After Ferrari: Built on reputation as cool dude
Alesi’s period at Ferrari coincided with a fallow period for the Scuderia and, having claimed just a sole – but exceptionally popular – win in 1995, he was out of the door thereafter. Alesi raced for Benetton for two years, taking another 13 podiums, a pole, and two back-to-back fourths in the standings, but the top step remained elusive. After stints at Sauber, Prost and Jordan, Alesi walked away after 2001 and raced profitably in DTM, and also had a disastrous outing at the Indy 500 in 2012 with the lacklustre Lotus engine. He is a regular face in the paddock with son and Formula 2 racer Giuliano.
Gerhard Berger
Ferrari legacy: Big, fiery crash and the occasional win
After Ferrari: Senna years, then another Ferrari stay, practical jokes
Berger left Ferrari after 1989 to join Ayrton Senna at McLaren, but three years later he was back at the Scuderia, and in 1994 matched his career-best third in the standings, adding another win to his tally. Berger departed for a second time at the end of 1995 and two more years in F1 with Benetton yielded one last victory in 1997. Berger has since held roles with BMW, Toro Rosso, the FIA’s single-seater commission and is currently in charge of DTM’s organising company ITR.
Alain Prost
Ferrari legacy: ‘Just don’t call it a truck’
After Ferrari: A car that wasn’t a truck, a few of his own cars that were trucks
Prost left McLaren to join Ferrari for 1990 but five wins and the runner-up spot proved the peak, as a disastrous 1991 prompted Prost’s exit before the final round of the season, infamously disparaging the Scuderia’s woeful 643. Prost sat out 1992 but returned in 1993 for one final season at Williams, taking another nine victories, and a fourth world title. After retiring from racing Prost acquired the old Ligier team for 1997 and for five years ran his own squad, prior to its collapse, and has since had a prominent role with Renault Sport across Formula 1 and Formula E.
Niki Lauda
Ferrari legacy: Two titles and the greatest ever sporting comeback
After Ferrari: Brief retirement, another title, aviation and executive roles
Lauda was the second-most successive Ferrari driver in history, taking 15 victories and titles in 1975 and 1977, the latter coming after his heroic return from his near-fatal Nurburgring crash. But Lauda’s relationship with Ferrari had already soured and he walked away as soon as he clinched the 1977 crown. A stint with Brabham led to his retirement but after two years out he returned for four more seasons, this time with McLaren, and claimed the 1984 crown, quitting for good one year later. Lauda went on to hold a prominent role in the aviation industry, with his own airline, and had senior executive positions at Jaguar and Mercedes. He died, last May, aged 70.
