The system was praised by drivers for driving like a naturally aspirated engine but having an extended power range, thus eliminating the notorious lag of the turbocharger.

[7] Enzo Ferrari had hired Nicola Materazzi in December 1979 to work with Forghieri and Tomaini and specifically for his experience with the turbocharging in the Lancia Stratos Gr 5 Silhouette cars.

The 126C3's engine was first introduced for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1983, with Patrick Tambay, while Arnoux would get to drive a 126C3 at the subsequent race in Germany at Hockenheim, which he ended up winning.

Postlethwaite kept the oversized rear wing of the 126C2B, and over the season, Frenchmen Patrick Tambay and René Arnoux scored four wins between them and were both in contention for the world championship throughout 1983, but late unreliability cost them both.

This was shown in Round 2 in South Africa (Kyalami) where the Ferraris were some 25 km/h (16 mph) slower on the long straight than the BMW powered Brabhams, primarily due to the increased drag from high wing settings.

Alboreto scored the engine's only victory in 1984, winning Round 3 in Belgium for what would prove to be the last F1 Grand Prix held at Zolder.

During qualifying for the French Grand Prix at the shortened Paul Ricard Circuit, Alboreto was able to use the engines reported 1,200 bhp (895 kW; 1,217 PS) (the engines were detuned to around 850 bhp (634 kW; 862 PS) for races) to blast past the Williams of Nigel Mansell on the long Mistral Straight.

The car also featured new front and rear wings and a slightly lower engine cover due to the reduction in the fuel tank limit from 195 to 150 litres.

Although it was one of the most powerful cars of the 1988 field at around 650–720 bhp (485–537 kW; 659–730 PS) @ 12,000 rpm, the F1/87/88C's biggest problem was fuel consumption compared to the rival Honda engines used by McLaren.

Barnard did this not wanting to move his young family out of England to a very different social environment in Italy, and so as to be able to work away from the distractions of the factory (and reportedly to be away from the Ferrari loving Italian press who were also notoriously quick to condemn failures, of which there were many in the early days of his radical 1989 car).

After taking pole at Silverstone, Berger put his achievement into perspective, stating that the ultra-fast circuit suited the Ferrari with its emphasis on outright top-end horsepower and not so much on acceleration.

Early in the season the Tipo 033A had also suffered from a lack of top end power (with Ferrari embarrassingly slow at home at Imola in front of the tifosi), which was addressed before the Canadian Grand Prix with a revised plenum chamber putting them back on par in power with the all-conquering Honda turbos in the McLarens, though the thirst for fuel and throttle lag remained.