For the 1966 Formula One season, technical regulations changed to allow 3-litre engines. Ferrari's first 1966 car used a 3.3-litre V12 engine taken from the Ferrari 275P2 sportscar prototypes, an engine originally designed for endurance races of up to 24 hours. Reduced to 3000cc and mounted in an F1 chassis, the engine was heavy and produced less power and torque than in its sportscar application. John Surtees drove it unsuccessfully in Monaco while Lorenzo Bandini drove a Ferrari Dino 2.4-litre V6. Surtees won the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix — a track that favoured power with long straights — but the 1964 world champion departed after a row with manager Eugenio Dragoni a week later at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The dispute concerned racing priorities, as Ferrari faced pressure from the Ford GT40 in sportscar racing while the F1 effort was somewhat neglected. Mike Parkes replaced Surtees and finished second in the driver championship with a further win. Ludovico Scarfiotti won the 1966 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, helping Ferrari finish second in the Constructors' Championship.
In 1967, the team dismissed Dragoni and replaced him with Franco Lini. Chris Amon partnered Bandini in a somewhat improved version of the 1966 car. At the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix, Bandini crashed and suffered severe injuries when he was trapped under his burning car; he succumbed to his injuries several days later. Ferrari re-hired Mike Parkes, but Parkes suffered career-ending injuries weeks later at the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix. Several accidents, a fatality, no race win, and only 5th in the Constructors' Championship marked a difficult year. The new Ford Cosworth DFV engine, which debuted in the Lotus 49, would go on to dominate Formula One for the following 15 years.
The 1968 season continued Ferrari's poor performance. New driver Jacky Ickx won the wet 1968 French Grand Prix but had few other successes. The rapid introduction and development of aerodynamic devices complicated the season further. Ferrari finished 4th in the Constructors' Championship. Manager Franco Lini quit, and Ickx departed for Brabham. During the summer of 1968, Enzo Ferrari sold his road car business to Fiat for $11 million, with the transaction completing in early 1969 while Ferrari retained 50% control of the business.
The 1969 season was transitional as Enzo Ferrari invested his new capital to restructure the team. Ferrari rejoined sportscar racing with the Ferrari 312P, but Porsche unexpectedly presented 25 Porsche 917s for homologation as 5-litre sportscars, which would dominate on fast tracks while the Porsche 908 competed on twisty circuits. The Scuderia also invested in building 25 Ferrari 512S sportscars to prepare for the 1970 World Sportscar Championship. With Ickx departed, Amon continued as a one-driver team in an older model for the first five races, taking four DNFs and a 3rd place at the 1969 Dutch Grand Prix. Pedro Rodríguez joined for the 1969 British Grand Prix, but both cars failed to finish, and the Scuderia skipped the 1969 German Grand Prix. Amon left Europe to race the Ferrari 612P in the 1969 Can-Am season. Rodríguez took 6th at Monza and then finished the season as a NART entry in three overseas Grands Prix. The team ended the year without a race win, ranked 5th in the Constructors' Championship. The 312 V12 was succeeded by the flat-engine 312B "Boxer" introduced for 1970.
In 1998, a drivable virtual recreation of the 1967 Ferrari 312 appeared as one of the featured cars in Grand Prix Legends, a PC simulation of the 1967 Formula One championship. The 1966 version became part of a free 66 Mod for Grand Prix Legends introduced in 2007 with further refined driving physics. The 1968 and 1969 cars, which feature wings for added downforce, appear in respective season mods. In 2017, the 1967 version was included in the Ferrari 70th Anniversary Celebration Pack for Assetto Corsa.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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