ex-Phil Hill 1963 ATS F1

The 1961 Formula One World Champion Phil Hill did not learn that most of the important people in the Ferrari team had left Modena until he had signed a contract to drive again for the Scuderia in 1962. The racing world was shocked when it heard that several of the staff who had been responsible for winning the championship for Enzo Ferrari were gone. At the time, it was not entirely clear whether they had resigned or were fired. Depending on who you listen to, it still isn’t clear!

Scuderia Ferrari was always an extremely political organization, with Enzo Ferrari running it much like a medieval prince. The Ferrari “palace revolution” came about for several complex reasons and it has never been easy to understand. All the participants had vested interests at stake. Although few outsiders had been aware of a rift or conflict at Ferrari, many people soon concluded that Signore Laura Ferrari was responsible by “meddling” in company and team affairs, and this led to the defection of eight important Ferrari company directors. There were also serious issues of Enzo Ferrari’s jealousy over control of his growing company. He had never been comfortable with outspoken men in his team, whether they were engineers or drivers, and Carlo Chiti and Romolo Tavoni were strong people with a loyal following, as well as talented engineer/designers. The revolution was really brought on by Ferrari’s decision to centralize  and consolidate power within the company.