1997 Ferrari F310B

Jul 17

Written By Katelyn McSherry

This 1997 Ferrari F310B is chassis number 179, which was the second to last car that was built for the 1997 season. The eighth of just nine built, it is the first of two lighter-spec examples that had been built with a slightly higher fuel capacity than the first models.

Michael Schumacher first used it in practice at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, but he found a difficult time finding the right set up as he was used to earlier car. Chassis 179 was set up for a dry weather race but there was a torrential downpour, and Schumacher decided to use the earlier car.

Chassis 179 was then used by Eddie Irvine at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Irvine qualified 10th and finished 8th in the race. He also used the car at the Austrian Grand Prix where he qualified 8th but failed to finish the race. After its retirement from Formula One, the car left Maranello in 1999, and was owned by a small group of prominent collectors. The car then went on to participate in several motorsports events, such as the Ferrari Historic Racing Days at Hockenheimring in Germany in 2000, and Monterey Historic Races at Laguna Seca in 2004. The car also spent a time being driven for the Ferrari Corsa Clienti program. The car was acquired for the Audrain Collections in 2014 and has attended very exciting events in the last couple years. Last summer the car was sent to the Goodwood Festival of Speed where it went up the hill and also participated in a lap of honor for Michael Schumacher’s 50th birthday. Additionally, the car was on display at Casa Ferrari for the 2019 Pebble Beach Concours.

The 1997 F310B was the replacement to the Ferrari F310 which was raced in the 1996 season. The F310 was the first Ferrari F1 car to utilize a V10 engine but struggled to keep the pace of the victorious Williams cars. Ferrari redesigned the car for the 1997 season to be more competitive, with more aerodynamic bodywork and a more refined engine. The F310B was an important car for Ferrari because it was raced on their 50th year in pursuit of F1 history. The 1997 season was also a very important building year for Scuderia Ferrari. It was the first year that Ross Brawn was the team’s technical director and Rory Byrne’s first season as chief designer, under the guidance of Jean Todt. Schumacher was able to drive the F310B to victory five times during the 1997 season.