THE 2000s by Luca Dal Monte

The 2000s began under the sign of Ferrari and Michael Schumacher. The first part of the decade was in fact dominated by the Maranello team and the German driver, who won five consecutive World Championships. No one had managed to do so before, not even the divine Fangio, who had won four in a row in the 1950s. Combined with the two he won in the mid-1990s, the five titles that Schumacher won from 2000 to 2004 brought his total to seven, which is still a record today, a record shared it with Lewis Hamilton.

Schumacher's first title with Ferrari came at the end of the 2000 season. At the wheel of the Ferrari F2000, Schumacher won a total of 9 Grand Prix. He won the first three and the last four in a row. But it was the victory in the penultimate race of the championship, the Japanese Grand Prix, that allowed him to have the mathematical certainty of the title, which he won at the expense of Mika Hakkinen, the reigning world champion, in a McLaren-Mercedes. For his part, the Finn won four grand prix and made life difficult for the German. For the second consecutive year, Ferrari won the Constructors' title, the eleventh in the history of the Prancing Horse. After a nine-year absence, the United States Grand Prix returned, held for the first time on the Indianapolis track.

Schumacher and Ferrari repeated the feat the following year. At the wheel of an unbeatable F2001, Schumacher won 12 of the 17 grand prix that made up the world calendar. The fight for the title was one-sided. With 123 points, Schumacher earned double the points of the second-placed Scot David Coulthard at the wheel of the McLaren Mercedes MP4-16. Third in the World Championship came the second Ferrari driver, the Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, who despite not managing to win a single race, climbed onto the podium ten times. Three victories were scored by Ralf Schumacher, Michael's brother, at the wheel of a Williams-BMW. The Italian Grand Prix in Monza remains in everyone's memory, with Ferrari that, out of respect for the victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and as a sign of solidarity with the United States, competed with the red livery without the sponsor decals and with a black nose.

With 11 victories, Michael Schumacher and his Ferrari F2002 also dominated the 2002 season. With his third consecutive world title under his belt, Schumacher reached Fangio's five and enters history. But Michael had not finished surprising yet. As in the previous season, his opponents were left with the crumbs, also because Schumacher's teammate, Rubens Barrichello, won four grand prix and became vice world champion. The only non-Ferrari driver to climb to the top step of the podium was David Coulthard, who won the Monaco Grand Prix with his McLaren-Mercedes MP4-17. For the fourth consecutive year, Ferrari triumphed in the Constructors' World Championship.

In 2003, Schumacher and Ferrari once again won the Drivers' and Constructors' World Championships. But this year the fight was tighter and Michael was world champion with just two points ahead of Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who had replaced Hakkinen at McLaren-Mercedes the previous season. At the wheel of the Ferrari F2003-GA, Schumacher took victory in "only" five Grand Prix. In fact, 2003 was a year in which there were eight different winners. In addition to the usual suspects, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, Coulthard, Raikkonen, Fisichella, Montoya, Ralf Schumacher and Fernando Alonso also climb to the top step of the podium.

In 2004, Michael Schumacher's reign came to the grand finale. Ferrari dominated this year as well. Its two drivers won 15 out of 18 grand prix. As can be imagined, in addition to the Drivers' World Championship, Ferrari also won the Constructors' World Championship. In six seasons, there were eleven world titles overall. The car in the hands of Schumacher and Barrichello this year was the F2004.

The year 2005 saw the first world title won by a Spanish driver, Fernando Alonso. Incidentally, the twenty-three-year-old Alonso took the record of youngest world champion from Emerson Fittipaldi. The Spaniard was driving the Renault RS25. For the French manufacturer, it was the first world title for Drivers and Constructors. Alonso got the better of Raikkonen at the wheel of the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-20. Each of the two drivers won seven Grand Prix. The difference was made by the podium finishes.

Alonso repeated the feat the following year at the wheel of the Renault RS26. Challenging him for the title this year was the evergreen Michael Schumacher, in his last season in Formula 1 before his first farewell. The Spaniard and the German won seven Grand Prix each. With two races left in the championship, the two drivers were tied on points. In the end, Alonso prevailed. By just 5 points, Renault also won the Constructors' World Championship.

In 2007, Ferrari returned to world championship victory with Kimi Raikkonen, who took Schumacher's place. It was an extraordinary year, with three drivers who, at the end of a season that lasted 17 grand prix, finished within a single point. Raikkonen was champion with 100 points. The runners-up were Hamilton and Alonso, teammates at McLaren-Mercedes, who gave rise to a fratricidal duel that ultimately favored the Finn from Ferrari. In addition to the Drivers' World Championship, the Maranello-based company also took home the Constructors' title - the fifteenth in its history.

The following season, Alonso left McLaren and returned to Mercedes. Without an uncomfortable teammate like the two-time Spanish world champion, Hamilton won his first world title at the wheel of the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-23, taking victory in 5 grand prix. It was the beginning of one of the most beautiful stories that Formula 1 has ever told because from now on Hamilton became the undisputed protagonist. Behind him and with only one point of deficit was Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, who in the last race of the season was the virtual world champion for a handful of seconds. The Constructors' title went to Ferrari in any case.

The 2009 season saw the victory of the Englishman Jenson Button at the wheel of the Brawn-Mercedes BGP 001, the team founded by Ross Brawn, one of the architects of the long golden season for Ferrari that characterized the first part of the decade. The team existed for just this one season, and took home 8 victories - 6 for Button, two for Barrichello - and 15 podiums. Behind Button came a very young Sebastian Vettel, who anticipated what will be the theme of the first part of the following decade. Brawn also conquered the Constructors' World Championship.