The Ferrari 246 F1 is a

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

racing car Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

built for the

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, ...

World Championship of 1958.

246 F1

The Formula One regulations for 1954–1960 limited naturally aspirated engines to 2500 cc and for the 1958 season there was a change from

alcohol fuel Various alcohols are used as fuel for internal combustion engines. The first four aliphatic alcohols (methanol, ethanol, propanol, and butanol) are of interest as fuels because they can be synthesized chemically or biologically, and they have ch ...

s to

avgas Avgas (aviation gasoline, also known as aviation spirit in the UK) is an aviation fuel used in aircraft with spark-ignited internal combustion engines. ''Avgas'' is distinguished from conventional gasoline (petrol) used in motor vehicles, w ...

. The 246 F1 used a '' Dino''

V6 engine A V6 engine is a six-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V6 engines were designed and produced independently by Marmon Motor Car Company, Deutz Gasmotoren Fabrik ...

with a 65° angle between the cylinder banks. The power output was at 8500 rpm. Bore X

Stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

: This was the first use of a V6 engine in a Formula One car, but otherwise the 246 F1 was a conventional front-engine design. The Ferrari 246 F1 was good enough to win a World Championship for

Mike Hawthorn John Michael Hawthorn (10 April 1929 – 22 January 1959) was a British racing driver. He became the United Kingdom's first Formula One World Champion driver in 1958, whereupon he announced his retirement, having been profoundly affected by the ...

and a second place in the Constructors' Championship for Ferrari. The Ferrari 246 F1 was not only the first V6-engined car to win a Formula One Grand Prix, the

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

in 1958, it was also the last front-engined car to win a Formula One Grand Prix. This occurred 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 w ...

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

, where the major British teams boycotted the race. In 1960, the Ferrari 246 designation was also used for the first mid-/rear-engined Ferrari, the 246 P Formula One car (using same Dino V6 engine of 2,417.34 cc), and then again in 1966 for Ferrari's first three-litre era Formula One car. Ferrari 246 F1 Regent Street Motor Show 2016 (30762637072)

Ferrari 246 F1 Regent Street Motor Show 2016 (30762637072)

256 F1

In 1959, to make a full use of the allowed capacity regulations, Ferrari enlarged the bore of the Dino V6 engine of the 246 F1 car by 1 mm to 86 mm. This allowed the total displacement to rise to 2474.54 cc. The resulting power output was now at 8600 rpm. The new car also received disc brakes as standard and a five-speed gearbox. Only Tony Brooks raced this model but he was outpaced by the mid-engined British cars. He still won in the French and German Grands Prix.

Formula One World Championship results

(

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) ¹Includes 6 points scored by

Dino 156 F2 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 ...

Notes

References

Grand Prix Racing – Ferrari Dino 246

External links

Ferrari 246 F1: Ferrari HistoryFerrari 256 F1: Ferrari History
{{F1 cars 1960 246 F1 Formula One championship-winning cars