The Ferrari F310, and its evolution, the F310B, were the
Formula One
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
racing cars with which the
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...
team competed in the and seasons. It was driven in both years by
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher (; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Schumacher won a record-setting seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, tied by Lewis Hamilton in ...
, who was swapped with
Benetton in favour of
Jean Alesi
Jean Robert Alesi (; born Giovanni Roberto Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Alesi won the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix with Ferrari.
Born and raised in Avignon, Alesi started karting a ...
, and
Eddie Irvine
Edmund "Eddie" Irvine Jr. (; born 10 November 1965) is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland, who competed Formula One drivers from the United Kingdom, under the British flag in Formula One from to . Irvine was runner-up in the Formula ...
, who replaced
Gerhard Berger
Gerhard Berger (; born 27 August 1959) is an Austrian former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Berger won 10 Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons.
Berger competed in Formula One for 14 seasons, ...
.
This was the first Ferrari Formula One car to run on
Shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...
fuel since the
312B3 in 1973.
F310

The F310 proved to be a front-running car, but without the outright pace or superb reliability which led to the
Williams FW18
The Williams FW18 is a Formula One car used by the Williams F1 team to compete in the 1996 Formula One season. Designed by Adrian Newey and Patrick Head, it is one of the most successful F1 designs of all time.
The FW18s were driven by Damon Hi ...
s dominating 1996. Schumacher was able to win three Grands Prix, but the F310's shortcomings were shown by Irvine's run of eight consecutive retirements, most of them mechanical, as well as three straight double retirements. Schumacher was realistic about his aims for the season, saying that he hoped to win a few races before challenging for the title in 1997. Development also proved troublesome, with the cars having to use the car's parts early in the season whilst structural problems were cured.
This car was notable as being the first Ferrari F1 car to use the then more conventional
V10 engine
A V10 engine is a ten- cylinder piston engine where two banks of five cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V10 engines are much less common than V8 and V12 engines. Several V10 diesel engines have been pro ...
format, because a V10 engine offered the best compromise between power and fuel efficiency; the V12 was powerful but thirsty, and the V8 lacked the straightline speed of the V10. The name F310 refers to the engine type, a ''3'' litre, ''10'' cylinder (
V10
A V10 engine is a ten-cylinder piston engine where two banks of five cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V10 engines are much less common than V8 and V12 engines. Several V10 diesel engines have been prod ...
) - a nomenclature consistent with that used for Ferrari's F1 cars from 1966 to 1980 (the
312
__NOTOC__
Year 312 (Roman numerals, CCCXII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinianus (or, less frequently, year 1065 ''Ab urbe co ...
,
312B
The Ferrari 312B is a Formula One racing car designed and built by Scuderia Ferrari. It was the successor to the Ferrari 312 and was used from 1970 until early 1975. The original 312B was developed into the 312B2 and 312B3.
History
The early 1 ...
and
312T), and similar to that used for the 2006
Ferrari 248. The engine was also called the ''310''. It was engineered by former Honda technician
Osamu Goto
is a masculine Japanese given name.
Written forms
Osamu can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:
*治 "reign"
*修 "discipline"
*理 "logic"
*収 "obtain"
*紀 "chronicle"
*統 "rule"
The name can also be written in hirag ...
.
Initially, the F310 was the only car in the 1996 field to have a low nose section, with the other teams having all switched to the more aerodynamically efficient high nose which was first seen on the
1990
Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
Tyrrell 019
The Tyrrell 019 was a 1990 Formula One racing car, designed by a team led by Harvey Postlethwaite, and built by Tyrrell Racing, Tyrrell. It was an evolution of Postlethwaite's first design for Tyrrell, the Tyrrell 018.
The car was introduced two ...
. The high cockpit sides were meant to aid cooling and aerodynamics but in fact had the opposite effect. From the start, however, chief designer
John Barnard
John Edward Barnard, (born 4 May 1946) is an English engineer and racing car designer. Barnard is credited with the introduction of two new designs into Formula One: the carbon fibre composite chassis first seen in with McLaren, and the sem ...
had announced his intentions to design a high nose for the car, saying that the F310 would be an ongoing project with the ultimate goal to win the world championship. The high nose was eventually adopted permanently from the
Canadian Grand Prix
The Canadian Grand Prix () is an annual motor racing event held since 1961. It has been part of the Formula One World Championship since 1967. It was first staged at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, as a sports car event, before alterna ...
onwards. The F310 was the first F1 car to feature the dashboard gauges mounted to the steering wheel. In an interview in 2012, Irvine said he did not have fond memories of the F310, calling it "an awful car", a "piece of junk", and "almost undriveable", as did John Barnard, who admitted that the car "wasn't very good". Schumacher himself, reflecting many years later on the F310, referred to it as "a parachute."
F310B
With the hiring of
Rory Byrne
Rory Byrne (born 10 January 1944) is a South African semi-retired engineer and car designer, most famous for being the chief designer at the Benetton and Scuderia Ferrari teams of Formula One. Byrne-designed cars have won ninety-nine Grands P ...
and
Ross Brawn
Ross James Brawn (born 23 November 1954) is a British Formula One managing director, motor sports and technical director. He is a former motorsport engineer and Formula One team principal, and has worked for a number of Formula One teams. Teams ...
to replace Barnard (who left mid-season in 1997 after Jean Todt decided the entire team including the design offices had to go back to Italy; and with Barnard not wanting to relocate to Italy because of personal reasons, Ferrari sold him the British-based Ferrari design offices, Ferrari Design and Development); part of the dream-team that would give Ferrari six straight Constructors' Championships from to , they used the F310 as a base for the F310B, improving its shape and mechanicals, making it a five-time winning car in the process.
The F310B was better performing and much more reliable than its predecessor but suffered stability issues at the front of the car. A new front wing assembly introduced shortly after Brawn and Byrne joined the team improved the package.
Regardless, double-champion Michael Schumacher was true on his 1995 promise that "in 1996 we will win three grands prix, then in 1997 we will challenge for the championship" by taking the challenge to the
last round
''Last Round'' is a studio album by the American musical group the Holy Modal Rounders. It was released in 1978 through Adelphi Records.
Critical reception
The '' Lincoln Journal Star'' deemed the album "pleasant, amusing, ndpretty insignifica ...
. He was, however, unable to hold off a storming drive by title challenger
Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve (; born 9 April 1971) is a Canadian former racing driver, who competed in IndyCar from 1994 PPG Indy Car World Series, 1994 to 1995 PPG Indy Car World Series, 1995, and Formula One from to . Villeneuve won t ...
; a botched attempt by Schumacher at defending his position ended up with him in the gravel, retired, and eventually disqualified from the 1997 season results. The team nonetheless retained their constructors' points.
In total, the F310 and F310B won eight Grands Prix, were on the podium 22 times, and achieved 7 pole positions and 172 points.
Sponsorship and livery
Previously,
Marlboro
Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (PMI, now separate from Altria) in most global territories outside the ...
was the team's major sponsor; somewhere until 1997 when they became the team's title sponsor. Ferrari used 'Marlboro' logos, except at the French, British and German Grands Prix in both seasons.
Other
The F310 appears in the video game
''F1 2013'' as one of the classic cars and in ''
Formula 1 97
''Formula 1 97'' (known as ''Formula 1 Championship Edition'' in North America) is a racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Psygnosis for PlayStation and Microsoft Windows. It is the sequel to the 1996 video game ''Fo ...
''.
Complete Formula One results
(
key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
References
*
*
External links
{{F1 cars 1997
F310
1996 Formula One season cars
1997 Formula One season cars