The Ferrari 246 P F1 was a Formula One race car prototype used by Ferrari in 1960. It was Ferrari's first

mid-engined In automotive engineering, a mid-engine layout describes the placement of an automobile engine in front of the rear-wheel axles, but behind the front axle. History The mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive format can be considered the original layout of ...

car. It made only two World Championship appearances, with its best result being fifth place at the

1960 Italian Grand Prix The 1960 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 4 September 1960. It was race 9 of 10 in the 1960 World Championship of Drivers and race 8 of 9 in the 1960 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was won ...

Development

The disappointing form of the

Ferrari 246 Dino () was a marque best known for mid-engined, rear-drive sports cars produced by Ferrari from 1957 to 1976. The marque came into existence in late 1956 with a front-engined Formula Two racer powered by a brand new '' Dino'' V6 engine. The nam ...

in 1959, along with the continuing rise of

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ' ...

and

Lotus Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

, finally convinced Enzo Ferrari that the future lay in rear-engine cars. The 246P was developed in secret by a team led by

Carlo Chiti Carlo Chiti (19 December 1924 – 7 July 1994) was an Italian racing car and engine designer best known for his long association with Alfa Romeo's racing department. He also worked for Ferrari and was involved in the design of the Ferrari 156 Sha ...

. After sorting its tail-heavy weight distribution, it debuted at the

1960 Monaco Grand Prix The 1960 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on 29 May 1960. It was race 2 of 10 in the 1960 World Championship of Drivers and race 2 of 9 in the 1960 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was won b ...

, retiring on lap 70 with a failed differential, but classified sixth.

156 F2

With the new 1.5 litre rules due to come into force in 1961, the 246P was then pressed into service as a development mule for the revised V6 engine, in which guise it could compete in the existing Formula Two class. It made a single World Championship appearance, at the

, finishing fifth, but won the Formula Two Solitude Grand Prix.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)(results in bold indicate pole position, results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) * Includes points scored by the

References

External links

Ferrari 246 P F1: Ferrari HistoryFerrari 156 F2: Ferrari History
{{F1 cars 1960 246 P Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicles