In a feud that ended tragically, the potentially testy relationship came to a head at the San Marino GP at Imola, where team orders late in the race dictated that Villeneuve, running slightly ahead of Pironi, should take the win. Villeneuve backed off as a result, but on the last lap the Frenchman blasted past, took the flag, and looked smug on the podium. Gilles would have none of it; he felt totally betrayed.

Some in the Ferrari management tried to play the incident down by saying that no team orders had been issued, while Enzo Ferrari came down squarely on Villeneuve's side. Embittered, the Canadian vowed never to speak to Pironi again. Unfortunately, he died at the very next race chasing Pironi's faster time in qualifying, and the world never got to cheer on the Ferrari darling in his feud with the villain Frenchman, a feud that, in hindsight, would probably have made Senna v Prost look tame.

When Alain Prost joined Nigel Mansell at the team in 1990, the pair were golf-buddies. But not for long. Mansell's ego and Prost's political skill were never going to mix in the hot-bed that is Ferrari. When Senna and McLaren had the edge early in the season, Prost started grumbling about the Ferrari 641's aerodynamics. These had been designed by Enrique Scalabroni, whom Mansell had brought from Williams. Prost saw this as an ex-Williams mafia. But mid-season, Prost won three races on a trot, and started loving the aerodynamics. All was well again ... or so it seemed.

Prost's car was working well, but the same couldn't be said for Ol' Nige. Normally, a string of retirements wouldn't necessarily anger him too much, but when it so happened that his team-mate was the beneficiary, that was a different story altogether. Amid claims of favouritism, after Silverstone where Mansell retired from the lead to see Prost take the win, Nigel announced his retirement at the end of the year. Alain pressed home his advantage, and got together a new engineering team of ex-McLaren man Steve Nichols, and ex-Fiat Panda man Guido Castelli. Scalabroni left in disgust, and for a few vital races that dented their championship aspirations, Ferrari was a rudderless team.

The rest of the 1990s has been relatively peaceful, but there have been a few notable flare-ups. With Jean Todt at the helm and looking to rebuild, he started to get frustrated at the fact that by 1995, Ferrari had made great steps, but not taken the final stride yet. Out of place in Todt's regime was Jean Alesi, and by the end of 1995 their relationship was frosty at best.

Then in 1999, when Eddie Irvine inherited Ferrari's championship challenge, the Ulsterman felt that Todt was not giving him any support, accelerating his decision to leave the team for Jaguar in 2000. There was some truth in that; Todt simply could not come to terms with the fact that Michael Schumacher, the man on whom Todt's organisation skills were built, would not be Ferrari's main man. And, frankly, that was no way to win a World Championship.

Next: Off the Mark