The Italian engineer Mauro Forghieri, who has died aged 87, was the last man capable of designing a complete world championship-winning Formula One car, from its chassis and suspension to its engine and gearbox. In his two decades as the technical director of the Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari’s racing division, Forghieri was responsible for the cars that took John Surtees, Niki Lauda and Jody Scheckter to world titles, and for those with which Jacky Ickx, Clay Regazzoni, Carlos Reutemann and Gilles Villeneuve won races from Monaco to Monza, and Spa to São Paulo. In all, his Ferraris won four drivers’ championships, seven constructors’ titles and 54 grands prix.
Put in charge of the technical side of the company’s entire racing operation by Enzo Ferrari at the end of 1961, when he was a mere 26, Forghieri was also responsible for a series of sports cars that won multiple victories in the great endurance races of the day: the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Targa Florio, the Daytona 24 Hours and the Sebring 12 Hours.
