Herculean task

In 1989, Nigel Mansell and Gerhard Berger, two supremely talented drivers (picture above), had the herculean task of taking on the geniuses Prost and Senna, certainly two of the best drivers in racing history, and getting Ferrari to eventually beat the almost invincible McLaren cars.

The Ferrari 640, designed by John Barnard, was a beautiful and innovative F1 car (see picture below, Mansell at Spa-Francorchamps). It was powered by the normally aspirated 12-cylinder and in a major first in Formula One, also had a semi-automatic gearbox. Nigel Mansell won his debut race at Interlagos (Brazil), and then again at Budapest (Hungary) while Gerhard Berger took victory at Estoril in Portugal.

Reliability cost Ferrari dear, Berger only finishing three races during the whole season and Ferrari took third in the Constructors Championship behind McLaren-Honda, once more dominating, and Williams-Renault.

The 640 lacked also a little bit on power but it seemed to handle better than the McLaren-Honda, and Gerhard Berger’s crash at Tamburello (Imola), was a very low point, if also a miraculous escape. The semi-automatic gearbox was always going to be a long term project to get the reliability sorted, so 1989 was essentially a development season, but Ferrari seemed to be on the right track.