How Forghieri helped shape Ferrari into world-beaters

Mauro Forghieri’s stint with Ferrari as technical director and both chassis and engine designer lasted from 1959 to 1987, and he is credited by the team with an involvement in 54 grand prix wins and nine world championships. 

The fact that he survived for nearly three decades in an organisation noted for internal turmoil and a revolving door of top personnel says much about his close relationship with Enzo Ferrari. They didn’t always agree, but the Commendatore had a huge amount of respect for the younger man, and usually backed his vision.

Forghieri was born in Modena in 1935. His father Reclus was a machinist and mechanic who worked with Enzo Ferrari at Alfa Romeo in the 1930s, and again from the early days of the new Ferrari marque after the Second World War.

The younger Forghieri studied mechanical engineering at the University of Bologna, and in 1957 he undertook a form of apprenticeship at Ferrari. At one stage, he considered moving to the United States to work in the aircraft industry, as planes were a big passion. Instead, when he graduated aged 24 in 1959, he stayed closer to home, joining Ferrari full-time.

Working initially under the volatile technical chief Carlo Chiti, Forghieri was involved with the development of the 1.5-litre Formula 1 V6 engine. He was thus part of the team’s traumatic 1961 season with the Sharknose 156 in which Phil Hill’s world title was overshadowed by the death of Wolfgang von Trips at Monza.

In October that year, Chiti and his key lieutenants were fired following a major fallout with Ferrari, and Forghieri was left as the most qualified engineer at Maranello. Ferrari took the bold decision to put the 26-year-old in charge of the whole racing department. Ferrari had a soft spot for the youngster, thanks to his long relationship with Forghieri’s father and the family’s origins in the Modena area, and they worked well together.

Paying tribute to Forghieri last week, Enzo’s son Piero described what it was like at Maranello in those days. 

“When I joined the company in 1965, I shared an office with Cavalier Giberti, Ferrari’s first employee,” he said, “while Mauro Forghieri, taken on a few years earlier, was next door. We were therefore separated by 10 years of age and a window. We saw each other all day every day.

“Forghieri…