The Ferrari 156/85 was a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

car designed by

Mauro Forghieri Mauro Forghieri (13 January 1935 – 2 November 2022) was an Italian mechanical engineer, best known for his work as a Formula One racing car designer with Scuderia Ferrari during the 1960s and 1970s. He is credited with introducing the first de ...

and

Harvey Postlethwaite Harvey Ernest Postlethwaite (4 March 194415 April 1999) was a British engineer and Technical Director of several Formula One teams during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He died of a heart attack in Spain while supervising the testing of the aborted ...

for use by Scuderia Ferrari in the 1985 Formula One World Championship. The number 27 car was driven by Italian

Michele Alboreto Michele Alboreto (; 23 December 1956 – 25 April 2001) was an Italian racing driver. He was runner up to Alain Prost in the 1985 Formula One World Championship, as well as winning the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and 2001 12 Hours of Sebring spo ...

, while the number 28 car was driven at the first race of the season in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

by Frenchman

René Arnoux René Alexandre Arnoux (; born 4 July 1948) is a French former racing driver who competed in 12 Formula One seasons (1978 to 1989). He participated in 165 World Championship Grands Prix (149 starts) winning seven of them, achieving 22 podium fi ...

, who then fell out with

Enzo Ferrari Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobil ...

and was replaced for the rest of the year by Swede Stefan Johansson.

Engine

The Ferrari Tipo 031/2 V6

turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...

engine produced around during the 1985 season. The exhaust systems were set outside of the vee, opposite to the previous year's 126C4. The turbocharger for each bank was located at the outside of the vee. Thus the intake chambers were located inside the vee.

Racing history

The 156/85 proved to be fast and reliable in the early part of 1985 but as the season wore on, the Ferraris became increasingly fragile in both qualifying and race trim with numerous engine and turbo failures throughout the season. It was this unreliability that ultimately would cost Alboreto, who actually led the points standings for most of the season, the drivers' championship. Alboreto retired from four of the last five races in 1985 and retired but was classified as 13th due to completing 90% of the race in the other ( Spa) allowing McLaren's

Alain Prost Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Micha ...

to win his first championship. Alboreto drove half a lap of the

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

circuit on lap 13 of the

European Grand Prix The European Grand Prix (also known as the Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One event that was introduced during the mid-1980s and was held every year from to , except in . During these years, the European Grand Prix was held in a countr ...

with the rear of his car on fire following another turbo failure. He drove the car into the pits and straight to his Ferrari pit, many observers seeing this as his way of showing that the Ferrari's unreliability had cost him the World Championship, which Prost won by finishing fourth in that race. While Alboreto had unreliability, his teammate Johansson finished fifth twice and fourth once with only two retirements in the last five races. 156/85's unreliability also allowed McLaren to overtake them in the points after half of the season, leaving Ferrari as runners up.

Complete Formula One results

( key) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External list

YouTube video showing Alboreto at Brands Hatch
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