Ferrari 640

Ferrari 640

Ferrari 640
Constructor:	Scuderia Ferrari
Designer:	John Barnard
Predecessor:	Ferrari F1-87 / 88C
Successor:	Ferrari 641
Technical specifications
Chassis:	Monocoque
Engine:	Ferrari 035/5, 65 ° V12 engine, 3.5 liters
Length:	4400 mm
Width:	2130 mm
Height:	950 mm
Wheelbase:	2830 mm
Weight:	505 kg
Tires:	Goodyear
Petrol:	Agip , 102 octane
statistics
Driver:	Nigel Mansell Gerhard Berger
First start:	1989 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last start:	1989 Australian Grand Prix
Starts Victories Poles SR 16 3 - 4th
World Cup points:	59
Podiums:	9
Leadership laps:	127 over 570.007 km
Status: 1989

The Ferrari 640 was a Formula 1 racing car that Scuderia Ferrari used in the 1989 Formula 1 World Championship .

Development history and technology

Ferrari 035/5 V12 engine

The Ferrari 640 was developed by John Barnard . The 640 was the result of an extensive test program, with a test car, the Ferrari 639, already being extensively tested in mid- 1988 . The 640 is largely based on this car. In addition, the new engine was tested in a converted Ferrari 87/88, as the semi-automatic gearbox was used in the 639, which made effective engine testing very difficult due to its unreliability.

For the 1989 season, the turbo engines used in previous years were banned and replaced by naturally aspirated engines with a displacement of 3.5 liters. Ferrari then developed a 12-cylinder engine with five valves per cylinder, which at the end of the season produced around 600 hp at 12,500 rpm.

Ferrari was the first Formula 1 team to use a semi-automatic seven-speed gearbox which, like the clutch, was electronically controlled via valves. This saves time on winding roads compared to a racing car operated with a conventional gearbox. A clutch pedal was still there, but was only used for moving off in first gear.

The situation was completely new for both drivers. Until now, racing cars had a small gearshift lever on the edge of the cockpit, which was used to change gear like a conventional car, but with the new semi-automatic transmission there were now small paddles behind the steering wheel (the right paddle for upshifting, the left paddle for downshifting) as they are standard in Formula 1 to this day. Gerhard Berger found this to be much more pleasant, whereas Nigel Mansell had difficulty adjusting, especially during the tests before the season. Nevertheless, he won his first Grand Prix with the car. After Mansell crossed the finish line, he was unable to get out. Two helpers had to help the winner out of the narrow cockpit, the Ferrari race director Cesare Fiorio massaged Mansell's left thigh for minutes. The inability to move was due to the fact that the leg "fell asleep", as Mansell hardly had to move it during the entire race.

The 640 was also a new development in terms of aerodynamics. Instead of making the side boxes wide and flat, they were made very high and thin. The width grew towards the middle of the vehicle before the side boxes converged again towards the rear. The vehicle's nose was significantly wider than before, which earned the car the nickname "duck". Ferrari also used an air scoop over the driver's head only after a delay, so that the roll bar was no longer visible during the season; In the first races of the season, the air inlets for the naturally aspirated engine were still attached to the left and right of the roll bar.

driver

Nigel Mansell

After Berger moved to Ferrari in 1987 , it became apparent that Michele Alboreto would lose his number one position on the team. After a disappointing 1988 season, he was not given a new contract. For 1989 Mansell was committed, who moved from Williams to Scuderia.

Racing history

Ferrari 640 in the Museo Ferrari

Despite the many innovations from Ferrari and an opening win from Nigel Mansell , both world championship titles were out of reach. The Ferrari 640 was a very fast, but also extremely unreliable car. Overall, there were more failures than finishings. Gerhard Berger was only able to finish the race three times out of 15 starts. However, if the car held out, Ferrari was a contender for victory. When the car reached the finish, it was never out of the top three places. Berger won a Grand Prix once when he crossed the finish line and was second twice.

After a serious accident in Imola , Berger had to pause for a race. Ferrari decided against using a third driver and entered the Monaco Grand Prix with just one car.

Nigel Mansell was disqualified twice during the season: At the start of the Canadian Grand Prix , after rain in the morning, the track was not yet completely dry at the start. Nevertheless, Mansell, Alessandro Nannini and Luis Pérez-Sala decided to head to the pit at the end of the introductory lap to have slicks fitted. Mansell and Nannini assumed they were at the bottom of the field when they accelerated out of the pit lane after changing tires. In reality they were at the front of the field because the start had been delayed slightly, which the two of them hadn't noticed. They were disqualified with the black flag. Pérez-Sala, whose tire change took a little longer, duly lined up at the end of the field and was therefore not penalized.

In Portugal , Mansell drove into the pit lane after the 39th lap, but failed to stop with his pit crew. When he noticed this mistake, he put the car in reverse and parked in front of his box, which was a clear violation of the rules. The race management consequently disqualified him. Mansell ignored this. While he was involved in a duel for second place with Ayrton Senna , the two collided and were eliminated. This put Alain Prost in second place behind Berger. After the race, Mansell protested that he had not seen the black flags, but was banned from the following race. Here too, Ferrari decided to compete with just one car.

The main problem of the Ferrari 640 was the susceptibility of the transmission to defects. Twelve of the failures were due to problems with this, and after his comeback in the Mexico race , up to and including the Silverstone race, Berger dropped out five times in a row for that reason alone. At the time of the breakdowns, however, the vehicles were usually on point or podium positions, which underlines the fundamental competitiveness of the type.

Results

driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	Points	rank
1989 Formula 1 season																		59	3.
N. Mansell	27	1	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DSQ	2	2	3	1	3	DNF	DSQ	EX	DNF	DNF
G. Berger	28	DNF	DNF	INJ	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	2	1	2	DNF	DNF

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

literature

• David Hodges: Racing cars from A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch-Verlag Stuttgart, 1st edition 1994, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 .

Web links

Commons : Ferrari 640  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ultimatecarpage.com Ferrari 640 (accessed May 21, 2015)
2. ↑ Ferrari F1-89 (640) Grand Prix race. In: motorsportarchiv.de. Archived from the original on December 31, 2009 ; accessed on January 13, 2019 .