Formula Won
The Grand Prix season reaches its finale with a showdown in Japan between two men of metal, and the hope that Ferrari gets its pedigree back
By KATE NOBLE

In the high-octane world of Formula One racing, the name Scuderia Ferrari is turbo-charged. The team's bright red cars have been fueling the fantasies of motor sport fans for over 50 years. That's not just because of their success on the track--119 victories, more than any other team--but because they come in street versions too. If boy racers can't imagine what it would be like to drive a Williams to school or back a Jordan out of the driveway, they can easily picture themselves piloting a scarlet road Ferrari to the supermarket. Which is probably why the team has so many fans filling Grand Prix grandstands with Ferrari red flags and why the Prancing Horse logo adorns merchandise from Milan to Manila.

On Nov. 1 scarlet flags will be waving at the Japanese city of Suzuka when Michael Schumacher's Ferrari lines up on the starting grid for the final race of the year. Reprising the nail-biting climax of last year's championship, the German driver has a good chance of bringing the Italian team its first world championship since 1979. Going into the final race Mika Hakkinen, the Finn who drives for Mercedes-McLaren, has a four-point lead for the title, which means that Schumacher, never beaten 'til he's beaten, has to win, with Hakkinen at least two places behind.

The denouement of the season will thrill European fans and whet the appetites of the Asian aficionados who make up 60% of the 350-million-strong global television audience for each race. Next year there will be two more Asian contests, at circuits in Kuala Lumpur and the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai. Other Asian races could be added to the calendar in the future, especially if the European Union goes ahead with its proposed 2006 ban on the tobacco advertising on which most teams rely for sponsorship. Asian companies could extend their involvement in F1, following the success of Japanese firm Mugen Honda's relationship with the Jordan team, owned by Irishman Eddie Jordan, and the Malaysia state oil company Petronas' sponsorship of the Swiss-based Sauber team. The arrangements provide each company with a worldwide advertising platform.

If Schumacher does snatch the championship at Suzuka, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo's 1995 decision to offer the driver a three-year contract (reportedly worth $30 million a year) will look inspired. The Italian team had languished championshipless in the pit-lane since the 1979 triumph of Jody Scheckter, despite using Ferrari's huge wealth to lure the best drivers to its headquarters in Maranello. "Our culture is cars," says Di Montezemolo, "and we were missing the culture that is specific to Formula One." Once Schumacher had gotten his foot on the Ferrari accelerator, he persuaded team manager Jean Todt to bring in technical director Ross Brawn and designer Rory Byrne, who had both worked with him at the Benetton team. Says Todt: "It's always a package deal. The car, the tires, the team, the pilot. When we win, we win together."

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