Ferrari 125 F1
The 125 F1 is Ferrari's first Formula One car. It shared its name with the 125 S sports racer which preceded it by a year, but was developed at the same time by Enzo Ferrari, Valerio Colotti and designer, Gioacchino Colombo. Initially the racer was called 125 GPC for Gran Premio Città or Grand Prix Compressore before the Formula One era.
Mechanical details
The 125 F1 used a supercharged 1.5-litre V12 engine and sported a steel tube-frame chassis with longitudinal and cross members. It had a double wishbone suspension with a transverse leaf spring in front and a torsion bar in the rear which was upgraded to a de Dion tube for 1950. Worm and sector steering and four-wheel drum brakes were the norm for the time. The wheelbase was uprated to in the 1949 redesign. The chassis and transmission design was by Valerio Colotti.The 125 F1 was powered by Colombo's 1.5-litre V12. The engine's name, and the car powered by it, the 125 S sports racer, were derived from the tiny 124.73 cc 55 mm by 52.5 mm cylinders. It had a single overhead camshaft on each bank of cylinders with a 60° angle between the two banks. The engine had two valves per cylinder fed through one Weber 40DOC3 or 50WCF carburettor. With just a 6.5:1 compression ratio, the supercharged engine still produced at 7000 rpm. However, the Roots-type single-stage supercharger was incapable of producing the high-end power required to compete with the strong eight-cylinder Alfa Romeo 158 and four-cylinder Maserati 4CLT. Strong driving and a nimble chassis, however, allowed the company to place third in its first outing, at the Italian Grand Prix on 5 September 1948 and the company persevered in racing.
For 1949, the engine was further modified with dual overhead camshafts and a two-stage supercharger. This combination gave the car better top-end performance and the resulting gave it five Grand Prix wins. Development continued the following year, but the problematic superchargers were dropped in favor of larger displacement and Lampredi's 275 engine superseded the original Colombo engine.
The original chassis have been lost, but an exact replica with the original Colombo engine currently resides in Museo Ferrari in Maranello alongside newer Ferrari F1 machines.
Technical data
Racing
The 125 F1 debuted at the Italian Grand Prix on 5 September 1948. Three cars were fielded, with drivers Prince Bira of Siam, Nino Farina, and Raymond Sommer who placed third in the race.| Date | Location | Driver |
| 24 October 1948 | Circuito del Garda, Salò | Giuseppe Farina |
| 3 July 1949 | Swiss Grand Prix, Bremgarten | Alberto Ascari |
| 31 July 1949 | Zandvoort Grand Prix | Luigi Villoresi |
| 20 August 1949 | Daily Express Trophy, Silverstone | Alberto Ascari |
| 11 September 1949 | Italian Grand Prix, Monza | Alberto Ascari |
| 25 September 1949 | Czechoslovakian Grand Prix, Brno | Peter Whitehead |
| 13 July 1950 | Jersey Road Race | Peter Whitehead |
| 12 August 1950 | Ulster Trophy, Dundrod | Peter Whitehead |
| 1 October 1950 | Interstate Race, Interlagos | Francisco Landi |
| 27 January 1951 | São Paulo Grand Prix | Francisco Landi |
| 20 May 1951 | Governador Noguera Garcez Race, Interlagos | Francisco Landi |
| 28 June 1951 | Bõa Vista Grand Prix, Rio de Janeiro | Francisco Landi |
Complete Formula One World Championship results
Post-WWII Grandes Épreuves results
| Year | Entrant | Engine | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 1948 | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12 | MON | SUI | FRA | ITA | GBR | |
| 1948 | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12 |  |