Mauro Forghieri

Mauro Forghieri (13 January 1935 – 2 November 2022) was an Italian mechanical engineer renowned for designing Formula One racing cars for Scuderia Ferrari during the 1960s and 1970s. He is recognized for bringing the first purpose-built rear wings to Formula One at the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix.

Born in Modena, Emilia-Romagna, Forghieri was the only child of Reclus and Afra Forghieri. During World War II, his father, a turner, worked for the Ansaldo mechanical workshops in Naples, while Mauro lived mainly with his mother, moving between Naples, Milan, Modena, and Abbiategrasso. After the war, the family returned to Modena, where Reclus began working at the Ferrari workshop in Maranello. Mauro completed liceo scientifico and earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Bologna in 1959.

Forghieri initially wanted to work in aviation, but accepted an internship at Ferrari, arranged through his father. He began an apprenticeship in the engine department in spring 1960, working alongside engineers such as Vittorio Jano, Carlo Chiti, Luigi Bazzi, and race director Romolo Tavoni, as well as Giampaolo Dallara. His early work involved both racing and production cars. In 1961, during the "great walkout," Chiti and other key figures left for the ATS team, leaving Forghieri as the only credentialed engineer. Enzo Ferrari then asked him to study the factory's full technical questions. At 27, he received guidance from Franco Rocchi, Walter Salvarani, and Angelo Bellei, and was soon appointed technical director for racing cars, a role he held until 1984. He oversaw technical development, managed the technical section at races, and coordinated with other Ferrari departments.

Forghieri was involved in every racing car Ferrari produced from his hiring until his departure in 1987. His sports racing cars included the GT-class 250 GTO, which he continued developing after the original team left in 1961, as well as competition versions of the 275 GTB and 330 LMB. His team designed the P series sports prototypes and later Dino series cars, starting with the 1965 Dino 166 P. Forghieri called the 1967 330 P4 his favorite of all his designs.

In 1964, he designed the V8-powered Ferrari 158, in which John Surtees won the Formula One World Championship. The 158 and the Ferrari 1512 used Forghieri’s aluminum monocoque chassis, the first such technology in a Ferrari F1 car. From 1966, he designed the Ferrari 312 series, including the 312, 312B, and 312T Formula One cars, and the 312P and 312PB sportscars. In 1979, he created a semi-automatic transmission for the 312T, tested by Gilles Villeneuve but never raced, predating similar systems in later Ferraris.

That same year, he began work on Ferrari’s first turbocharged engine, which debuted in the 1981 126 C. Under his guidance, Ferrari won the drivers’ championship four times (Surtees in 1964, Niki Lauda in 1975 and 1977, and Jody Scheckter in 1979) and the constructors’ championship seven times.

Forghieri left his technical director role in 1984. In January 1985, he started work on the Ferrari 408 4RM concept car, completed in spring 1987, after which he left Ferrari. In September 1987, he joined Lamborghini Engineering, a department created by Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca. There, with sports director Daniele Audetto, Forghieri designed the naturally aspirated Lamborghini 3512 V12 engine, which debuted in Formula One at the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix with the Larrousse/Lola team and was also used in the 1990 Lotus 102. A project to design a complete F1 car was then conceived.