A1 Grand Prix series chairman Tony Teixeira announced in October 2007 that Ferrari had agreed to design and build the cars' engines for a period of six years. The collaboration was widely presented as a means of securing A1GP's long-term viability and attracting sponsors, given ongoing concerns about the series' financial health. Teixeira had taken control of the series after founder Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum resigned and sold his stake to RAB Capital in December 2006.
Ferrari's involvement represented a departure from the original Lola-Zytek architecture. However, according to 2007-08 champion Neel Jani, approximately 90 percent of the teams in the A1GP paddock warned Teixeira before the switch that the new car was an untimely and inefficient use of the series' resources, given its precarious financial state.
The A1GP Ferrari car was based on a modified Ferrari F2004 chassis, with the original 3.0-litre Ferrari V10 engine replaced by a 4.5-litre Ferrari/Maserati V8 unit. In PowerBoost mode — the push-to-pass system carried over from the previous Lola-Zytek generation — the engine was capable of producing up to 600 brake horsepower, a notable increase over the 550 bhp ceiling of the predecessor car. Michelin replaced Cooper Tires as the exclusive tyre supplier for the season. Like the Lola-Zytek, the car was provided to all competing teams in identical specification to preserve the series' level-playing-field concept.
The car made its competitive debut in the 2008-09 A1 Grand Prix season, the series' fourth, which proved significantly diminished compared to earlier campaigns. Three planned rounds — in Italy, Indonesia, and Mexico — were cancelled before they could be held, and a proposed race in Brazil also fell through. The series reached the end of the 2008-09 season in weakened condition, with A1 Team Ireland claiming the championship with driver Adam Carroll.
Despite completing the 2008-09 calendar, no fifth season followed. The series was thrown into doubt when the opening round of the planned 2009-10 season, scheduled in Australia as part of the Nikon SuperGP event, was cancelled five days before practice was due to begin. Subsequent cancellations in China and the Netherlands brought an effective end to A1GP's competitive activities, with the series subsequently entering liquidation.
A dispute over ownership of the A1GP cars — including the Ferrari-powered units — was heard at the High Court of Justice in London in January 2010, with the administrator appointed by the court, Tim Bramston, taking control of the assets. The liquidators subsequently sought £10 million for the sale of the series' intellectual property and cars.
In May 2015, South African company AFRIX Motorsport announced it had purchased the remaining 21 Powered-by-Ferrari A1GP cars, along with their engines and spares, from a freight company that had been granted a lien on the vehicles for unpaid bills. AFRIX stated that the cars were intended to form the basis for a one-make series to be run in South Africa. The engines and cars were purchased without engine management electronics and steering wheels, which had been removed separately.
The A1GP Ferrari V8 thus existed for a single competitive season, a casualty of the financial difficulties that ultimately ended both the car's intended six-year programme and the A1 Grand Prix series itself.
Gallery · 4 related images
