Cam wrote:What surprises me is the way Ferrari change the naming conventions of their F1 cars over the years. When I look at other teams, such as McLaren and Red Bull, their F1 car names are perfectly consistent each year, i.e. RB1, RB2, RB3, RB4, RB5 etc, MP4-23, MP4-24, MP4-25, MP4-27 etc whereas Ferrari goes something like this:
• F 93 A
• 412 T1/T1B
• 412 T2
• F 310
• F 310 B
• F 300
• F 399
• F1-2000
• F2003-GA
• F2001
• F2002
• F2003-GA
• F2004
• F2005
• 248 F1
• F2007
• F2008
• F60
• F10
• Ferrari 150° Italia
• F2012
Its all a bit schizophrenic. When a driver gets into a new car, in the back of his mind he's thinking - evolution = improvement. But there's actually nothing in the name that reflects that. It's almost like they don't want to carry on the name. Now, before all you Scuderia fan boys lynch me, I know the name of the car does not effect its performance. Psychology plays a huge part in any performance, and perhaps this weird approach may be endemic to other areas of the team, which may in fact effect performance.
It just doesn't seem ordered and methodical and I wonder if this little insight may reflect the wider team ethos?
It's unfortunate that Ferrari's internal naming conventions haven't been used publicly since the 643 of 1991. That car seems to be the only one released with no reference to a public naming convention, though it may have been a Ferrari F191/2.
Here is your list, with what I believe to be the corresponding internal coding, which is pure and logical...
F1/89 - 640
F1/90 - 641
F1/91 - 642
F1/91b - 643
F92A - 644
• F 93 A - 645
• 412 T1/T1B - 646
• 412 T2 - 647
• F 310 - 648
• F 310 B - 648
• F 300 - 649
• F 399 - 650
• F1-2000 - 651
• F2001 - 652
• F2002 - 653
• F2003-GA - 654
• F2004 - 655
• F2005 - 656
• 248 F1 - 657
• F2007 - 658
• F2008 - 659
• F60 - 660
• F10 - 661
• Ferrari 150° Italia - 662
• F2012 - 663
For some reason in about 1991 the internal codes seemed to become the reference code the car was referred to by. I guess this started when people started referring to the 639 in 1988 and then the 640 and 641 in the following years.
Anyway, this years car is the 663 if you would like some continuity...
As for why they seem to name cars on a whim, who knows...