Ferrari began his competition career in endurance racing, winning the 1975 1000 km du Mugello alongside co-rider Benjamin Grau on a Ducati. He subsequently moved into the 500cc Grand Prix world championship.
His 1979 campaign was the defining chapter of his racing life. Ferrari opened the season with consistent podium finishes: second to Barry Sheene in Venezuela, second to Kenny Roberts in Austria, third in Germany, and second to Roberts again in Italy. A Dutch TT victory at Assen, combined with Roberts finishing only eighth, elevated Ferrari to the top of the championship standings as the series approached its final rounds.
A pivotal and controversial moment came at the Belgian Grand Prix held at the Spa circuit. The track had been repaved only days before the event, and many competitors believed the fresh asphalt was leaching diesel fuel to the surface, making conditions unsafe. Ferrari and Roberts jointly led a rider revolt, refusing to start the race along with other top competitors. The FIM responded by suspending both riders, though the penalty was subsequently reduced to a probationary period. The incident drew significant attention to circuit safety standards at a time when the broader question of racer safety was becoming a central concern across motorsport.
Ferrari's championship chances were damaged by poor results in the subsequent rounds: a fifteenth place in Finland followed by a fourth in Britain. His crash at the season-ending French Grand Prix handed the title to Roberts, who took the championship by the margin that Ferrari's late-season difficulties had conceded.
Ferrari continued racing into the 1980s, returning to the world championship in 1986 aboard a Honda NSR250 in a team managed by Takazumi Katayama. His best result that year was a sixth place at Silverstone, and he finished fourteenth in the championship. In 1987 he won the TT Formula 1 title riding a Bimota YB4 EI. His final Grand Prix season came in 1989 in the 250cc class, riding an Italian-made Gazzaniga machine without points-scoring success.
Ferrari was present at two fatal accidents during his racing career. In 1984 he was first on the scene when Kevin Wrettom crashed; Wrettom died at a hospital several days later. In 1989 Ferrari again arrived first at an accident scene, this time involving Iván Palazzese, whose chest injuries proved unsurvivable. Ferrari attempted resuscitation in both cases.
After his Grand Prix career ended, Ferrari transitioned into team management. He joined the Ducati factory Superbike World Championship team in 1988 and served as team manager through 1998, a period encompassing much of Ducati's dominant era in the championship. He was succeeded in that role by Davide Tardozzi. Ferrari later managed the Kawasaki PSG-1 team in the World Superbike Championship in 2007.